Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05COLOMBO1169
2005-07-06 11:54:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:  

SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT ANTI-CONVERSION BILL MOVES

Tags:  PHUM KIRF CE 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001169 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND DRL/IRF
NSC FOR DORMANDY
USPACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/05/2015
TAGS: PHUM KIRF CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT ANTI-CONVERSION BILL MOVES
TO FIRST BASE IN PARLIAMENTARY PROCESS

REF: A. COLOMBO 0742


B. COLOMBO 0572

Classified By: AMB. JEFFREY J. LUNSTEAD. REASON: 1.4 (B,D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001169

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND DRL/IRF
NSC FOR DORMANDY
USPACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/05/2015
TAGS: PHUM KIRF CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT ANTI-CONVERSION BILL MOVES
TO FIRST BASE IN PARLIAMENTARY PROCESS

REF: A. COLOMBO 0742


B. COLOMBO 0572

Classified By: AMB. JEFFREY J. LUNSTEAD. REASON: 1.4 (B,D).


1. (SBU) According to D.W. Abeywickrema, Secretary at the
Ministry of Buddhist Affairs, the Government-drafted
anti-conversion bill, which was approved by the Cabinet in
March (Ref B),was sent to the Government Printer on July 5
for publication in the Parliamentary Gazette. (Note: Being
"gazetted" is a proposed bill's first step in the
parliamentary process.) Abeywickrema told poloff that he
expects the second step--presentation of the topic at the
parliamentary party leaders' meeting--to occur on July 19. .


2. (SBU) When asked why the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL)
had chosen this particular moment to move ahead with its
bill, Abeywickrema attributed the time lag between Cabinet
approval and gazette notification to unspecified
"administrative delays." He confirmed that Buddhist Affairs
Minister Ratnasiri Wickremenayake had issued the order to
send the bill for notification.


3. (C) On July 6 the Ambassador contacted Foreign Minister
Lakshman Kadirgamar, an opponent of the legislation, to ask
why the GSL, its representations to us to the contrary (Ref
A),appeared to be moving ahead with this draft. Kadirgamar
said he had also heard only the day before that the bill had
been gazetted, adding that he was puzzled as to
why--particularly since he had assured us that the President
had said she would not allow it to go to Parliament.
Kadirgamar said he would try to discuss the matter with
President Kumaratunga--who, he speculated, might be similarly
unaware of the step--in a meeting scheduled the next day.


4. (C) Comment: In a rare example of bipartisan consensus,
the President and the Opposition Leader both had previously
assured the Ambassador that they do not support and will not
push anti-conversion legislation. Gazetting a bill is only
the first step in what can be a lengthy parliamentary
process; many opportunities remain for the controversial
draft to be buried, quashed, consigned to committee, or
otherwise killed. Nonetheless, it is disturbing that a bill
we had been assured would go nowhere now seems to have made
it to legislative first base. We believe Kadirgamar's
protestations of ignorance. Another Cabinet opponent of the
bill, Commerce Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopoulle, told us on
July 5 that he was also unaware that the bill was being
notified. Whether the President was also in the dark, as the
Foreign Minister suggests, is unclear. (Wickremenayake has a
habit of free-lancing when the President, who spent much of
the last week out of town, is not in Colombo.) We will
underscore our grave concerns on this matter at the very
highest levels of the government.
LUNSTEAD