In a statement released by the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) today (04), the Party stated that even though the Speaker of Parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardane had consented to allow Rishad Bathiudeen to attend Parliament while serving a 90 day detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), the CID did not permit Bathiudeen to attend Parliament today. This comes after Chief Opposition Whip, Lakshman Kiriella requested Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardane to permit Bathiudeen to attend Parliament, to which the Speaker acceded. Thereafter, Sergeant-at-arms Narendra Fernando had informed the Director of CID to permit Bathiudeen to attend Parliament. According to the statement, Parliament was scheduled to sit on 4th and 5th of May 2021 and Bathiudeen was expected to attend Parliament today (04) and deliver an address. However, the CID did not comply with the request from Parliament citing CoVid-19 related concerns. The ACMC mentioned that MP Rishad Bathiudeen had been subjected to a PCR test after the CID informed that the wife of one of his contacts had tested positive for CoVid-19. However, the results of the PCR test have not been revealed till now.