The Sri Lankan government have come up with a new marriage rule for their citizens. Foreigners who want to marry anyone with Sri Lankan nationality will require clearances from the defence ministry of Sri Lanka, under new regulations. These new rules were met with harsh criticism from the opposition.
From the following week, the new principles seen by AFP on Monday will require foreigners to get a doctor’s approval and a security check before their pre-marriage ceremony, with registrar general WM Weerasekara attributing the policy to “national security” concerns.
Weerasekara reportedly stated, “We have seen some foreigners wanting to marry Sri Lankans here with ulterior motives like engaging in drug trafficking and money laundering”.
The new guidelines have provoked criticism and revolt from opposition lawmakers who pointed the fact out that few individuals from the ruling family are dual nation citizens.
“How about security clearance for foreign nationals to hold cabinet ministerial portfolios?” legislator Shanakiyan Rasamanickam tweeted.
The context to these questions from the opposition is that Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa possessed US citizenship until two years ago. He scrapped a constitutional provision that barred dual citizens from contesting elections, after becoming the president. His brother Basil, the finance minister, remains a dual citizen of the United States and Sri Lanka
