Diana Gamage is no SL citizen, but ‘fully British’ – Gammanpila

Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) MP Udaya Gammanpila claimed that MP Diana Gamage is a British citizen whose Sri Lankan citizenship had already been revoked.

He claimed that there is no evidence that she applied for dual citizenship after obtaining British citizenship and that she has become an MP without being a Sri Lankan citizen.

Implying that a foreigner entering Sri Lanka’s Parliament is more dangerous than dual citizens becoming MPs, Gammanpila said, the Speaker claimed it was the Election Commission’s responsibility to identify dual citizens in Parliament.

Addressing the Media yesterday (31) he stated that the Judiciary will decide whether a person is a dual citizen or not after reviewing the submitted facts.

“Who should submit the facts to Court?  According to the law, the general public can submit facts to the Court.  In 2017, MP Geetha Kumarasinghe lost her seat in Parliament because the Supreme Court decided that she was a dual citizen, after examining the facts submitted by a person named Piyasena Gamage. He was able to submit that petition to the Court because Kumarasinghe had honestly said that she was a dual citizen. A majority of MPs entered Parliament prior to the passing of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. It means they became MPs, perfectly knowing they are violating the Constitution of the country,” Gammanpila pointed out.

Speaking further, he also said that according to the Citizenship Act, when a Sri Lankan obtains the citizenship of another country, they lose their Sri Lankan citizenship. 

“If they wish to enjoy the privileges associated with Sri Lankan citizenship, they should apply for dual citizenship.  But some people use their previous Sri Lankan passport and identity card fraudulently to hide their foreign citizenship. They are not dual citizens but foreigners. But they pretend to be Sri Lankan citizens,” he said.