"There is no SOFA Agreement": Prime Minister

Colombo (News 1st): Leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna MP Anura Kumara Dissanayaka posed several questions to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe about the ACSA and SOFA in parliament yesterday (July 10). Although it was MP Bandula Gunawardena who raised these questions initially, the Prime Minister responded to these questions at a time MP Gunawardena was not available in parliament. The Prime Minister noted that the SOFA was not the agreement that was signed in 1996. He said a set of letters was exchanged between the US Embassy in Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and it was noted that there is no SOFA agreement. He went onto note that the ACSA which was signed in 2007 by Gotabaya Rajapaksa has 7 pages and the agreement they signed has only 5 pages. Responding to this MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the damage of an agreement is not measured by the number of pages. He said what's important is to determine if the content of the agreement is good or bad. Therefore, he said 2007 one and the 2017 one are wrong. He also questioned if they tabled the amended agreement with the relevant annexures. The Premier noted that he will hand it over after including everything and noted that all annexures will be tabled as well. When questioned about the conditions included in the agreement that is scheduled to be signed, the Prime Minister noted that there is no such agreement and said a draft bill was given. He said they have informed the points they agree with and without and will sign only if they can agree on it.