JVP to launch campaign against FTA with Singapore

unaware of the agreement. We have a doubt whether this was singed even before the approval of the Attorney General. Therefore, we will take every effort to defeat this agreement. We will discuss with representatives of all sectors regarding this,” he said.

He said when the Anti-dumping and Countervailing Act and Safeguard Measures Acts were signed, it allowed the legal background to sign bilateral agreements with any country.

“After we signed the FTA with Singapore, we cannot refuse to sign such agreements with India, USA, Japan or any other country. So we have opened all doors to our economy now. Any country can enter our economy,” he said. He said the FTA comprised of 1083 pages had been signed within a month and added that he challenged that no one in the Cabinet had read the agreement. “This agreement brings number of disadvantages to the country. The government claims that we would get opportunities for export. But we have exported goods worth US$ 133 million in 2017 whereas we have imported goods worth US$ 1350 million from Singapore in 2017,” he said.

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said yesterday it would campaign to defeat the recently signed Free Trade Agreement with Singapore together with people of all sectors and to rescue the country from imminent danger.

JVP Politburo member and Provincial Councillor Wasantha Samarasinghe told a news conference that this agreement was detrimental to the country and added that it should be defeated.

“The agreement signed in secret has betrayed the country. The President and the Prime Minister cannot say they were