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Question mark over question time as questioners and answerers play truant
View(s):By Sandun Jayawardana
The move, while good on paper, ended in farcical scenes on Tuesday when many ministers who were supposed to answer questions, as well as the MPs who had asked them, failed to show up.
Forty-nine questions for oral answers had been listed in the day’s order paper. While most ministers had sent the answers to the questions asked of them, they were not present in the House to answer follow-up questions that MPs were entitled to ask. It was left to Chief Government Whip Prasanna Ranatunga to read out the answers the ministers had sent. He was, however, unable to answer follow-up questions since the questions were not related to his subject, leading to frustration among opposition MPs.
Dayasiri Jayasekara
The matter eventually led to tempers flaring. Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Galle District MP Gayantha Karunatilleka raised issue over Tourism and Lands Minister Harin Fernando not being present to answer his follow-up questions. “Today is a special day and we have been waiting here since 9.30 am. If the minister is not going to be present, then please don’t put these questions in the order paper,” he told Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakse.
Chief Government Whip Ranatunga said the minister had sent answers to the question the MP had raised, but he would request more time since Mr Karunatilleka had follow-up questions.
The matter escalated from then on, with SJB MPs repeatedly raising issue over the absence of ministers to answer their questions. SJB Kegalle District MP Rohini Kumari Wijerathna called on the chair to let them know if ministers who were supposed to answer their questions were coming or not. “Our questions are towards the end and we have to be here till evening. Give us a list of the ministers who are coming and those who won’t be. Then, those of us who have asked questions where the relevant minister is absent can leave.”
Government MPs blamed the opposition for the issue. Minister Ranatunga singled out Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa for particular criticism, alleging that he routinely wasted Parliament’s time by raising a question he was entitled to ask as Opposition Leader and then debating the matter for over an hour. “Some ministers were here in the morning, but they had other work they had scheduled for later in the day and had to leave because the debate started by the Opposition Leader dragged on. They have given the answers to the questions. But some will have to be deferred because we are not in a position to answer follow-up questions,” he claimed.
Prasanna Ranatunga
“We are not here to waste time. If the ministers are not present to answer questions, why are we here? Are we here to scrape coconuts?” asked an angry Puttalam District SJB MP Hector Appuhamy.
The SJB’s Badulla District MP, Chaminda Wijesiri, claimed that Rs 9 million was spent to hold a single day’s parliamentary session and called on the Deputy Speaker to end the session so that the House could meet properly on January 5 after the New Year.
Several opposition MPs from districts outside the Western Province were particularly furious, noting that they had to travel all the way to Colombo only to hear that their questions could not be taken up due to the absence of the relevant minister.
Minister Ranatunga shot back, saying even some opposition MPs who had asked the questions were absent. Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakse agreed, noting that while 32 questions had been taken up by that point, 14 of those questions had to be put off because the MPs who had asked them were absent.
“I have been waiting from 9.30 am to 1.15 pm to ask the 40th question, only to be told now that the minister is not here to answer me. I have travelled 68 kilometres to get here to be told this,” fumed Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Kurunegala District MP Dayasiri Jayasekara about the absence of Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara. He said he sympathised with the Chief Government Whip, but said the practice of ministers leaving folders with answers for him to read out was a futile exercise since he did not know the subjects to answer in depth or take follow-up questions.
Mr Jayasekara criticised the move to set aside an entire day for questions, given how the day had gone and called on party leaders to come up with a better way to ensure that MPs’ questions were answered. He suggested setting time limits for asking and answering questions during question time.
Mr Ranatunga agreed that there should be a better system for MPs’ questions to be answered. “We agreed to set aside a day for these questions based on a request by the opposition. I agree that we need a better system. I also believe the chair should intervene and prevent ministers and MPs from rambling on and keep their questions and answers short,” he remarked.
Parliament will meet for the first time in 2023 on January 5.
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