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Speaker Karu Jayasuriya this week urged MPs to attend sittings regularly, after the House had to be adjourned on several days in its previous sitting week, due to poor attendance. He said it is a matter of regret that sittings have to close abruptly due to a lack of quorum, adding it was the responsibility of both Government and Opposition members to maintain a quorum in the House.

He was not alone in raising such concerns. President Maithripala Sirisena too brought up the issue this week, saying MPs must make an active contribution to Parliamentary business, to enhance the efficiency of the Legislature. “Parliament sits for only 8 days a month. There are 225 MPs in our Parliament, but often, we struggle to maintain the quorum of 20 MPs during sittings,” the President said, while speaking at an event in Colombo.

The views expressed by both the President and the Speaker are a poor reflection on Lawmakers who, despite increased perks given to them, seem to have no interest in attending Parliament sessions. The fact that millions in tax rupees is spent every sitting day, has been voiced openly by the Speaker several times in the past, but has done little to improve either attendance or participation by Lawmakers.

Added to poor attendance, Parliamentary behaviour of MPs too has been a cause for concern, with the Speaker often warning that unruly behaviour by some Lawmakers was bringing the entire Parliament into disrepute.

To underscore the point that the House is serious about acting against errant MPs, 2 UPFA MPs, namely Wimal Weerawansa and Prasanna Ranaweera were suspended from Parliament for two weeks and four weeks respectively, on Friday, for their bad conduct in the House.

The 2 were accused of acting in an unparliamentary manner and breaching Standing Orders of Parliament. The motions against the 2 MPs were in connection to their conduct on July 3, when there was a discussion on the controversial statement made by UNP Jaffna District MP Vijayakala Maheswaran.

The 2 MPs were asked to appear before the Parliamentary Committee on Ethics & Privileges, set up to examine questions of Privilege and matters relating to the breach of rules of conduct and etiquette that are referred to it, by way of a motion moved and approved by Parliament. It has the power to make recommendations after examining the extent of the breach. The Committee is headed by Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana and comprises 10 members drawn from all parties.

MP Ranaweera was accused of grabbing the Mace during the melee on the floor of the House on July 3rd, while MP Weerawansa was accused of using obscene language. They were asked to appear before the Committee, but had failed to present themselves and hence, 2 separate motions were moved in the House by the Government side and passed by a majority vote, thus suspending them. The suspension became effective on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Government announced this week it will be presenting its 2019 Budget to Parliament on November 5.

The Budget debate is scheduled to be held for 26 days, with its 2nd Reading debate to be held from November 7-14, and its vote on November 14.

The final vote for Budget 2019 will be December 8.