RTI request proves only Geetha holds dual citizenship - PAFFREL

The Department of Immigration & Emigration has confirmed that among the 225 MPs in the current Parliament, only Galle District MP Geetha Kumarasinghe holds duel citizenship, the People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) stated today. 

PAFFREL Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi, in a media release, stated that the information came to light following a Right to Information (RTI) application the organization filed with the Department of Immigration & Emigration in May. 

In line with information requested in the application, the Immigration & Emigration Controller General had obtained a list containing the names, dates of birth and National Identity Card (NIC) numbers of all 225 MPs in the current parliament from the Parliament Secretary General in order to determine if any MP held duel citizenship. This information was fed to the Department's database containing details of Sri Lankans holding duel citizenship. Department officials had further manually checked documents containing details of persons with duel citizenship that were in place before the database was computerized.   

After conducting these analyses, the Controller General has confirmed that Galle District MP Geetha Samanmali Kumarasinghe had a duel citizenship certificate (No. 17096A). However, both methods of checking has confirmed that none of the other 224 MPs in the current Parliament possessed a duel citizenship certificate, according to information given to PAFFREL.

Under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, a person holding duel citizenship cannot be an MP. A court case filed against MP Geetha Kumarasinghe in this regard is currently pending. .  

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