MCC deal will be signed before debating at parliament - Mangala

As the Millennium Challenge Cooperation (MCC) Agreement has been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, it will be submitted to Parliament for approval after it is signed, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said.

Copies of the Agreement, which the Attorney General has deemed to be legal under the constitution, have been issued for the reference of the public, he said.

He pointed out that although some who do not know of parliamentary procedures comment that the Agreement should be tabled at the parliament before being signed, an uncertified document cannot be debated at parliament.

Reportedly, the Agreement itself mentions that the Agreement will only be considered valid only after the passage of an Act of Parliament to enforce that Agreement.

The Finance Minister stated that once the Agreement is gazetted any citizen who is deemed to be aggrieved by the Agreement can go to the courts against it.

There are no legal issues to the signing of the Agreement as the Attorney General has already agreed to this, said Samaraweera.

The people who create a phobia of the MCC Agreement among the public, when it has already been approved by the Cabinet, should come forward and point out the adverse effects of the Agreement on the public and the country, he further said.