Committee to probe Parliamentary incidents further delayed

The appointment of a committee to probe the unruly incidents in Parliament has been delayed until Wednesday as Samagi Jana Balawegaya Members of Parliament led by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa boycotted sessions for the third consecutive day today (7).

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena told Parliament that still attempts were made to contact the members to sit in the committee to be appointed, though some of them have already been contacted.

He said he was hopeful of appointing the committee by tomorrow morning.

Speaker Monday morning had promised to appoint a committee to inquire into the incidents on Saturday.

The SJB walked out of Parliament on Saturday.

Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe called the speaker to appoint the committee as soon as possible and get the SJB members to return to Parliament soon to ensure that a healthy debate on the budget takes place.

The SJB are demanding the Speaker to carry out a proper inquiry about the incidents in the House on Saturday and to ensure security.

The MPs held another protest outside the Parliamentary premises holding placards with slogans against the government. On Monday they protested outside the Parliament building, but today shifted the protest to the main road outside the Parliament entrance.

TNA MP Charles Nirmalanathan raised objections that as an opposition member he has not been given time to speak in the absence of a proper debate due to the unavailability of the opposition.

However, the Speaker said during the amendments, the member could express his views.

Yesterday’s parliamentary sessions ended before lunch as the SJB members were not present.