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Ministers, MPs barred from travel abroad during parliament sessions
View(s):Government ministers and parliamentarians will be banned from travelling overseas when Parliament sessions are underway, the Cabinet decided on Tuesday. The only exception will be for urgent medical reasons or for a family emergency. The move came on a recommendation by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. He has been concerned about the mounting number of occasions when Parliament had to be adjourned due to the lack of a quorum.
He has expressed particular concern in view of the 2019 budget debate. The absence of a quorum may force postponement of sittings for the next day and delay monetary allocations for ministries.
Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera is due to present his second budget on November 5. The budget debate will end on December 8. The absence of government MPs has become a focal point of public attention in the light of mounting prices of consumer goods. Questions are being raised in government circles as to how much relief measures he could offer in view of this.
President Maithripala Sirisena has also raised issue over mass absenteeism by MPs. He told ministers recently that Parliament met only for eight days in a month — four days in the first week and four in the third week. Thus this regular absenteeism, he noted, had become a bad example. Earlier, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya expressed concern to government leaders on his having to adjourn sittings periodically due to the lack of a quorum.