The government has announced a revised approach to asset disclosure requirements, making politicians' financial declarations public while keeping those of government officials confidential under amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act.
Parliament has approved modifications to gazetting procedures governing the disclosure of asset and liability declarations, according to an announcement by Leader of the House Minister Bimal Rathnayake. The revised framework reinstates public access to financial information filed by elected representatives while restricting access to declarations submitted by non-political government employees.
The decision reverses a gazette notification issued the previous month that had suspended publication of politicians' asset disclosures, triggering considerable public discussion. Rathnayake explained that the government sought to strike a balance between transparency requirements for elected officials and privacy protections for state employees. He emphasized that approximately 300 individuals, ranging from the President to other senior figures, are required under the Anti-Corruption Act No. 09 of 2023 to file such declarations.
The minister argued that elected representatives occupy a fundamentally different status than ordinary officials, justifying differential treatment. He stated that citizens have a legitimate interest in knowing the financial positions of politicians and their relatives, given their public accountability responsibilities. However, he contended that extending such disclosure requirements to lower-level state employees could enable misuse, citing concerns that media outlets have previously harassed non-political officials whose information became public.
According to Rathnayake, the Independent Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption endorsed the privacy protections for ordinary officials. The government maintains that this tiered approach preserves political transparency while protecting employees from potential harassment or exploitation based on their personal financial information.
