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TNA tells EU Mission PTA not the only problem

28 Sep 2021

  •  EU GSP+ Mission meets Sampanthan and Justice Minister
BY Pamodi Waravita    The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has insisted, during a meeting held yesterday (28) with delegates of the visiting European Union (EU) Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) trade concessions Monitoring Mission for the Third Cycle, that the EU’s focus should not be limited to the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, No. 48 of 1979 as amended (PTA). Emphasising this to the delegates, TNA Leader and Parliamentarian R. Sampanthan had stressed on the need to find a long-term solution to the problems faced by the Tamil community in the country through a new Constitution.  “Our delegation met with the visiting EU delegation and emphasised on the need to repeal the PTA and to formulate a new Constitution to resolve the Tamil national ethnic question in addition to updating them on the land grabs and other intrusions into the rights of the Tamil people,” said the TNA in a social media statement. TNA MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam, speaking to The Morning following the said discussion, said: “Sampanthan was adamant about finding a long-term solution, through the means of a new Constitution. He urged the delegation to not just limit their focus on the PTA. We also brought up the issues of how the Archaeology Department, the Mahaweli Authority, and other government institutions are being used for political purposes by the Government. The delegation seemed to have been already aware of this.”  The EU GSP+ trade concessions Monitoring Mission also met with Justice Minister President’s Counsel (PC) M.U.M. Ali Sabry yesterday. In a social media statement issued yesterday, Sabry said that key areas of co-operation and the current judicial reforms programme were discussed.  The EU Parliament, earlier this year, called on the Government of Sri Lanka to repeal the PTA and the European Commission (EC) to consider the temporary withdrawal of the GSP+ from Sri Lanka if it is not done.  The Mission is scheduled to conclude its visit on 5 October, following meetings with a number of high-level officials and civil society organisations. The Mission is comprised of EC Senior Advisor on Trade and Sustainable Development Nikolaos Zaimis, European External Action Service (EEAS) South Asia Division Head Ioannis Giogkarakis Argyropoulos, EC GSP Trade Preferences Coordinator Guido Dolara, EC Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion Unit Head Lluis Prats, EEAS Desk Officer for Sri Lanka Monika Bylaite, and EEAS Human Rights Policy Officer Paolo Salvia. The GSP+ gives Sri Lanka preferential access to markets in the EU and it has been identified that the GSP+ especially benefits the fisheries and apparels industries. It was withdrawn in 2010 after the EU identified three major shortcomings with respect to United Nations human rights conventions (the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child) related to the GSP+ scheme, which is not only a special incentive agreement for sustainable development but also for good governance. It was reinstated in 2017.

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