- Maithripala Sirisena ordered his finance minister to revoke the economic reform
- Last week’s decision provoked backlash in parts of the mainly Buddhist country
- Original idea was to ‘restore gender neutrality,’ said spokesman Ali Hassen
Sri Lanka’s president has reinstated a 37-year-long ban on women buying alcohol – just days after the restriction was lifted by his finance minister.
Maithripala Sirisena said he had ordered Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera to revoke his decision to overturn the 1979 law prohibiting the sale of all alcohol to women.
‘From tomorrow, the minister’s order will be rescinded,’ Sirisena’s office said in a statement, which gave no explanation for the sudden change of direction.
Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena (pictured) ordered his finance minister to revoke his decision to overturn the 1979 law prohibiting the sale of any type of alcohol to women
The reversal comes after a finance ministry official said Samaraweera had revoked the 39-year-old law in an effort to strike sexist bills from the statute books.
‘The idea was to restore gender neutrality,’ ministry spokesman Ali Hassen said of the decision Wednesday to roll back the ban.
The finance minster said strict curbs on Sri Lanka’s licensed liquor manufacturers only encourage a black market for spirits, and deprive the state of much-needed revenue.
But last week’s decision to relax laws on alcohol provoked a backlash in some quarters of the majority-Buddhist nation of 21 million people.
The National Movement for Consumer Rights Protection had accused the finance minister of encouraging drinking, and had urged Sirisena to intervene and restore the restrictions.
Under further new measures passed by Samaraweera, bars and pubs can remain open longer, and a ban on women working in bars, distilleries and breweries was lifted.
But Finance Minster Mangala Samaraweera said restrictions only encourage a black market for spirits, and deprive the state of much-needed revenue
But Sirisena’s office also moved to restrict these new rules, saying the president was reducing the time period bars could be open.
It was not clear from Sirisena’s statement yesterday if the decision to allow women to work in the alcohol industry had also been reversed.
The ban on women buying liquor was originally imposed in 1979 to appease the conservative Buddhist hierarchy of the time.
Liquor vendors in Sri Lanka are also forbidden to sell spirits to police or members of the armed forces in uniform.
Sri Lanka unveiled steep tax rises on hard liquor in its November budget but greatly reduced tariffs on wine and beer.