VIDEO: UNP is only against non-discussion of CEPA, says Harsha

The United National Party (UNP) is against the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) only because the Government has not discussed it with the Opposition or any other organization regarding its contents, says Dr. Harsha de Silva.

UNP National List parliamentarian and policy intellectual Dr. Harsha de Silva said that CEPA was just another agreement and that if negotiated properly it could benefit Sri Lanka, particularly from the rapidly increasing Indian middle class.

“What we are against is the position of the Government that there need be no discussions on CEPA the Opposition or any other professional organizations in the country. We are against this position of the Government. We don’t know what this agreement is all about. We are asking the Government to put it before Parliament, debate it and take it from there,” said Dr. de Silva.

Like so many agreements that the UNP was able to sign between Sri Lanka and several other countries and through which the country received so many grants, the UNP is not against any new agreements that are beneficial to the country, said Harsha de Silva while adding that if the Government should discuss CEPA with the Opposition and others and then take it from there.