Sri Lankan women to lose right to buy alcohol

A landmark move to grant women in Sri Lanka the same rights as men to buy alcohol legally has been overruled.

President Maithripala Sirisena has ordered the country’s government to withdraw the reform, which would also have allowed women to work in bars without a permit.

He told a rally he had only found out about the move from the media. Mr Sirisena said on Twitter that “positive results” of his intervention would be seen.

The government had earlier announced it was amending a 1955 law, agreeing the legislation discriminated against women. Critics accused the president of not taking gender equality seriously.

Women over the age of 18 would have been allowed to buy alcohol legally for the first time in more than 60 years.