President requested to revise the Sri Lanka - Singapore FTA

Colombo (News1st): A number of groups have requested the President to make a decision on the Sri Lanka -  Singapore Free trade agreement. The report compiled by a committee chaired by Professor W.D. Lakshman on the FTA was presented to the president yesterday (December 10). The report highlights that there are a number of provisions in the agreement that are illegal and it notes that the agreement is flawed and includes a number of clauses detrimental to Sri Lanka. The committee had recommended that the agreement to be reconsidered. A member of the media committee of the GMOA Prasad Colombage stated that they hope that the people who secretly worked for this deal are revealed and the illegal acts committed by them during this formation of this agreement is revealed to the country. He added that the president and the government should take strict legal action against all these officials who betrayed the country. Secretary of the GMOA Haritha Aluthge also noted that as the Government Medical Officers Association they are not at all ready to see this report being thrown away, therefore they believe that all facts in the report should be revealed to the people. Speaking regarding the matter UPFA MP Bandula Gunawardena stated that the final conclusion of the report is that the Singapore FTA is detrimental to the country. He noted that the president has said that he will present a copy of the report to an expert committee this week after examining the report. MP Gunawardena stated that the final date for the agreement to be amended is the 21st of January and that he had prepared a cabinet paper on getting a court order on whether or not they should pull out from the agreement, and on the manner in which they should act on this and the risks involved, prior to the current political impasse.