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This week, for the third time in two months, the Govt sought Parliament approval for a sum of over Rs 329 million (Rs 329,831,000) to purchase vehicles for six Ministers, a Provincial Governor and for an official of the Prime Minister’s office.

This brings to a grand total, the amount Govt has sought as Supplementary Estimates (SE), since March this year, to buy vehicles at over Rs 1,200 million.

In March this year, the Govt presented two separate SEs, one of Rs 371 million (Rs 371,097,000) to purchase nine vehicles for ministers and Deputy Ministers and another of Rs 494 million (Rs 494,962,790) to purchase vehicles for seven Ministers, three State Ministers and a Deputy Minister.

The SEs were presented by Chief Government Whip & Parliamentary Affairs & Mass Media Minister Gayantha Karunatilake, and the allocation comes from the the Budgetary Support Services and Contingency Liabilities Project from the Dept of National Budget.

The latest beneficiaries of the new vehicles will include the Minister of Foreign Affairs, for whose vehicle a sum of Rs 43 million has been allocated. The other allocations are Rs 43.75 million for a vehicle for the State Minister of City Planning & Water Supply, Rs 43 million for a vehicle for Parliamentary Affairs Secretary of the Prime Minister, Rs 43 million for a vehicle for the Governor of the Eastern Provincial Council, Rs 43 million for a vehicle for the State Minister of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources, Rs 29.081 million for a vehicle for the State Minister of Skills Development & Vocational Training, Rs 42 million for a vehicle for the Minister of Provincial Councils & Local Government and Rs 43 million for a vehicle for the Minister of National Co-existence, Dialogue & Official Languages.

Similarly, amounts averaging around Rs 40 million each, have been allocated to buy new vehicles for a host of Ministers and Deputy Ministers. This is in addition to millions of rupees allocated last year as SEs, to purchase vehicles, mainly for government politicians. One of the most extravagant was the allocation of Rs 70 million made least year, to purchase a vehicle for Minister of Regional Development, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka.

Government Ministers have in the past, defended the import of luxury vehicles for the use of senior ruling party members saying, Lawmakers need to travel long distances in their line of public duty, and good vehicles were needed for this purpose.

Luxury vehicles aside, the ruling by the Court of Appeal this week, disqualifying Galle District MP Geetha Kumarasinghe as an MP, took center stage, with the lady member’s entry to the Chamber on Thursday, the day after the judgement, making quite a splash.

UNP Kurunegala District MP Nalin Bandara queried why the MP was in the House, when she had been disqualified by the Court, for holding dual citizenship, in violation of the Constitution.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, however, said that Parliament is yet to be informed of the Court ruling and any action regarding the MP would be taken after that.

This Court decision also led to queries in Parliament about other MPs who maybe holders of dual citizenship. JVP MP Vijitha Herath asked the Govt to query the matter and make public the names of other MPs who hold dual citizenship.