President drops gay rights from GSP+ strategic plan

State Minister of Finance Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena today (17th January) revealed that the President has decided to abandon several ‘culturally inappropriate’ proposals, including the recommendations on gay rights, in the strategic plan proposed by the EU for re-granting GSP+.

The State Minister also stated that Sri Lanka regained the GSP+ status due to the advancements made in the areas of human rights and democracy under the current government. Therefore, the implementation of the proposals in the strategic plan is solely up to Sri Lanka, he added.

Stating that Sri Lanka is a culture-centric nation, State Minister Abeywardena suggested that it was impossible to implement such proposals as ‘down-to-earth’ pragmatists.

He also said that a committee led by State Minister Faiszer Mustapha was appointed to study these proposals, and accordingly, several proposals will be abandoned as determined by the committee in the future.