• BY Buddhika Samaraweera

The main Parliamentary Opposition Party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) stated that it is their position that the debate between the two economic committees of the SJB and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People's Power (NPP) also of the Parliamentary Opposition should be held before the debate between the two Party Leaders.

The NPP recently invited the SJB to suggest three or four dates leading up to 20 May for the debate between their Leader, Opposition Parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake, and SJB and Opposition Leader, Sajith Premadasa.

Since the SJB is yet to suggest the days as requested by the NPP, The Daily Morning queried SJB Parliamentarian, Nalin Bandara Jayamaha – who was appointed by the Party to coordinate the debate – regarding the latest situation with regard to the matter. In response, he said that it is their stance that the debate between the two Parties' economic committees should be held first. 

“We invited them to sit with us and have a discussion so that we can decide a date, but they didn’t come. What we say is that the economic committees' debate should be held first, and then the debate between the Leaders.” When queried as to whether they would wait for the NPP to attend a discussion with them to decide the date/s for the debates, he said: “Yes. What we tell them is that let's meet and decide dates for both the debates. We can then get an intermediary party and hold the debates.”

Earlier, in a formal communication to the SJB, the NPP had proposed four dates — Tuesday (7), yesterday (9), 13 May or 14 May — for the debate, but the SJB declined, arguing that they had not been consulted by the NPP before those dates were decided. It was then that the NPP publicly invited the SJB to suggest three or four days up to 20 May to have the debate, but, the SJB is yet to respond to their proposal. The NPP earlier said that in the event the SJB does not suggest a date for the debate between Premadasa and Dissanayake, they (NPP) would then move forward with the economic committees' debate.