Oct 31, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka's Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa says that no agreement should be hurriedly signed with a foreign government just days before a decisive presidential election.
The Cabinet this week decided to enter into a pact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation of the United States.
Releasing a statement Rajapaksa says that the government should not sign the deal behind the backs of the general public and the Parliament and any such agreement should be signed if at all, only after the presidential election.
"The Prime Minister in answering a question put to him by the media stated that the government intends signing this agreement before the presidential elections," he said.
According to Rajapaksa, the contents of this proposed agreement are not known even to parliamentarians let alone the general public.
"Before this agreement is signed, its text should be made public, and presented to Parliament and debated."
The information available indicates that this agreement consists of grant funds for traffic management in Colombo, road construction Island wide, and land administration improvements covering the whole country.
"However, the government has not taken any steps to explain what exactly this entails and what its impact will be on the country," he said.
"If this agreement will be as beneficial to Sri Lanka as is made out, why is everything shrouded in secrecy?
"
Related: Sri Lanka’s cabinet approves MCC grant of USD 480 Million
English-MCC-Pact