{"id":165149,"date":"2016-07-14T12:19:26","date_gmt":"2016-07-14T06:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=165149"},"modified":"2016-07-14T12:24:07","modified_gmt":"2016-07-14T06:54:07","slug":"joint-opposition-calls-for-referendum-on-etca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/joint-opposition-calls-for-referendum-on-etca\/","title":{"rendered":"Joint Opposition Calls For Referendum On ETCA"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Joint Opposition<\/span><\/a> has called for a referendum to obtain the public view on the proposed Indo-Sri Lanka Economic and Technology Cooperative Agreement (ETCA<\/span><\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"Nugegoda<\/a>Parliamentarian Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said that the Government was going ahead in signing the agreement by September this year, despite protests by various groups including professionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one knows what\u2019s in the agreement, and the government has not taken any steps to education the people on it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to get the views of the people on this before signing it, so the government should call a referendum just like the UK did recently,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

According to Abeywardena, although legal action can be taken against issues like VAT, there was no legal provisions to go to courts for such agreements.<\/p>\n

In February this year, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared that no one can stop his government from signing the agreement, despite fears that the agreement will pave way for Indians to seek employment in Sri Lanka in the field of IT and medicine among others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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