COLOMBO, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government will amend a draft bill seeking changes to the Anti-Corruption Act to ensure public access to the asset and liability declarations of elected representatives, House Leader Bimal Rathnayake told the parliament on Thursday.
Rathnayake said the bill, gazetted on July 24, would be revised to strengthen transparency surrounding declarations submitted by public representatives.
Under Sections 86 and 88 of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 9 of 2023, nearly 300 senior officials and political leaders, including the president, are required to declare their assets and liabilities.
The declarations were initially submitted in printed form before the process was moved to an online system.
The announcement followed concerns raised by Transparency International Sri Lanka, which said the gazetted amendments could weaken meaningful public access to declarations and restrict how publicly available information could be used.
The organization warned that limiting the use of such information could undermine public scrutiny, freedom of expression and efforts to identify unexplained wealth and conflicts of interest.
The revised bill is expected to be presented after the amendments are completed. ■
