TISL requests asset declarations of Ms. Nirupama Rajapaksa from President, Speaker and Election Comm.

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) on Tuesday (2/11/2021) wrote to the President, the Speaker of Parliament and the Elections Commission of Sri Lanka calling for the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities of Former Deputy Minister Nirupama Rajapaksa. The request was made under the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities law (1975) and the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities (Amendment) law (1988).

Ms. Nirupama Rajapaksa has contested in multiple elections as a candidate since 1994. She served as a Parliamentarian from 1994 to 2000 and from 2005 to 2015. During the period between 2010 and 2015 she also served as the Deputy Minister of Water Supply and Drainage, according to a statement from TISL. 

According to the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities law (1975), candidates contesting for office in local government, provincial council, Parliament or for the post of President should submit their Declaration of Assets and Liabilities to the Elections Commission of Sri Lanka.

The law further states that Members of Parliament should submit their Declarations of Assets and Liabilities to the Speaker of Parliament while Ministers and Deputy Ministers should submit their asset declarations to the President.

TISL noted that it is also aware of the latest revelations by the Pandora Papers on Mr. Ramalingam Paskaralingam who served as Economic Advisor to former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and who was also a member of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management during the Yahapalana administration, and will be following up on the issue shortly.