Parliament votes in favour of repealing Expropriation Act

The bill proposing to repeal the Expropriation act was passed in Parliament with 91 votes in favour and 69 votes against it.

The Revival of Underperforming Enterprises or Underutilized Assets Act (Expropriation Act), allows the government to take over underperforming enterprises or underutilized assets not performing up to the government's expectations. It was passed in 2011 under the previous government.

Credit agencies  and leading business chambers, had criticised the Act that permits the government to appoint an  authority which will control, administer and manage the enterprise or the asset by restructuring or entering into a management contract.

As the Act had created a sense of uncertainty among investors and affected the country's ease of doing business, a proposal to repeal the Act was suggested during the Budget speech of 2018.

Last week, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara said moves were afoot to privatise two sugar companies which were owned by the government through the repealing of the Expropriation act.

Earlier today, sugarcane farmers engaged in a protest near the Parliament roundabout against the Act.