Parliament

Easy passage for bills amid inter-party battles
By Chandani Kirinde, Our Lobby Correspondent
With less than three weeks to go for the local government elections, only a few MPs made their appearance in the legislature last week.
But Parliament was not starved of inter-party battles or shocking statements as two progressive pieces of legislation — one to pave the way for electronic transactions in commerce and the other to promote national enterprise — were passed with the backing of all MPs.

When sittings began on Tuesday, JVP Parliamentary Group leader Wimal Weerawansa dropped a bombshell when he demanded the immediate removal of Norway from the role of facilitator in peace talks between the Government and the LTTE because of what he called Oslo’s bias in favour of the militant group.

His special statement in Parliament came just a day after the JVP participated in the All-Party Conference (APC) where party leader Somawansa Amarasinghe called on the government to strengthen the military as a deterrent to the LTTE while expressing hope that the next round of talks in Geneva would pave the way for a lasting solution.

On Tuesday, when Mr. Weerawansa launched his tirade against Norway, many on the Government side were caught unawares. But given the “blow-hot-blow-cold” stance the party has adopted regarding the peace talks in recent months; many analysts believe Mr. Weerawansa’s statement was more for public appeasement rather than an attack on the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration.

After the distraction of Mr. Weerawansa’s statement, Science and Technology Minister Tissa Vitharana introduced the Electronics Transaction Bill which seeks to encourage the use of reliable forms of electronic commerce, facilitate national and international electronic commerce by eliminating legal barriers.

It also seeks to promote public confidence in the authenticity, integrity and reliability of electronic communications. The Bill was welcomed by all MPs. The JVP’s Kegalle district MP, Anuruddha

Polgampola said that Sri Lanka’s public administration system was lagging behind in modern communication technology compared to other countries.
“When one goes to get the National ID or even a passport, one has to waste a lot of time because we are still backward in our technology usage,” he said.

TNA MP Nadarajah Raviraj cautioned that the Bill did not contain any clauses to penalise those who engage in fraud and other irregularities when doing electronic transactions and it was necessary to incorporate such measurers into this Bill as well.

Minister Vitharana said the necessary punitive measures would be incorporated in the Computer Crimes Bill which is to be presented shortly.
The following day, Investment Promotion and Enterprise Development Minister Rohitha Bogollagama presented the National Enterprise Development Authority Bill which also got the support of the all parties.

Mr. Bogollagama said there were 200,000 small entrepreneurs in the country and in keeping with the Mahinda Chintanaya, local industries would be developed and the setting up of the Authority would expedite the work in this regard.

Colombo district UNP parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake said that while such bills were necessary for the development of the country, the lack of coherence or direction in the government policy – with various constituent parties and government allies pulling in different directions – would affect the development process.

“The JVP earlier used the bullet to destroy the economy but now through the ballot it has come to power and is stifling the economic progress of the country,” Mr. Karunanayake charged.

Accusing the JVP of adopting double standards, he asked why the JVP was not agitating against price increases as it did during the UNF regime.
“During the UNF regime, when prices of essential goods went up by Rs. 5, the JVP would go to the Lipton Circus and protest. But the party is now quiet when prices of essential items are going up by Rs. 500,” he said.
Retaliating, JVP MP Sunil Handunetti said he would not waste his time responding to the attack on his party by the UNP MP, who he charged was motivated by “jealousy”.

UNP MP John Amaratunga on Wednesday moved an adjournment motion to express his party’s concern over the growth of corruption in the country.
Mr. Amaratunga said this was a malady that had affected the country for several years and was getting worse every day.

Public Administration Minister Sarath Amunugama said there was a problem of corruption in many government institutions and the government was committed to strengthening the Auditor General’s Department to curb this problem.

“It is the poor tax payer who is affected by corruption and inefficiency in the public service and not the rich persons,” he said adding that all political parties must get together to eliminate this canker.

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