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Parliament session : Limited MPs and no journalists

01 Nov 2020

  • No outsiders, public gallery to be closed  
  • Parliament staff to be reduced to half
The next Parliament sessions would see additional Covid-19 measures being adopted in addition to curtailing sessions to a single day.   Parliament Secretary General Dhammika Dasanayake told The Sunday Morning that a decision has been taken by party leaders to limit the number of members attending Parliament.   “It will be a short session of Parliament and only the members who would be speaking in Parliament are to attend.”   He said that the decision had been taken to not allow journalists to attend.   “Journalists also would not be attending as one parliamentary journalist has been found positive for Covid-19. The public gallery will also be closed and no visitors will be allowed, except for outside officials who would be required on that day.”  Sergeant-at-Arms of Parliament Narendra Fernando said that the Parliament staff will also be reduced by more than half.   “We will be having a meeting with the Parliament Secretary General on Monday (3) to decide how many staff can attend. We hope to keep the number of staff below 500.”  He said that on average, there were around 900 staff in the Parliament in addition to around 200 staffers from ancillary departments.   


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