• Seeks tabling or pvt. examination of AG’s Dept. and P’ment Secretariat reports cited by Spkr. 

The main Opposition, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) stated yesterday (17) that they are awaiting a meeting with the Speaker of the Parliament Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne to discuss the basis on which he decided not to accept the no-confidence motion (NCM) against the Deputy Minister of Defence Major General (retd.) Aruna Jayasekera.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, Chief Opposition Whip Gayantha Karunathilleka said that they expect these matters to be taken up at the next Parliamentary group meeting during the coming Parliamentary week. 

“We requested the Speaker to table the reports provided by the Attorney General’s (AG) Department and the Parliamentary Secretariat. If he had made those decisions transparently, there would be no problem in tabling them. But, he didn’t do so,” he said.

He further noted that when the issue was raised at the recent party leaders’ meeting in the Parliament, Dr. Wickramaratne assured that Opposition Parliamentarians involved in the NCM would be given an opportunity to discuss it.

“That discussion has not yet taken place. We hope that it will be arranged at a later date. If it is not possible to table those reports, we will request the Speaker to at least allow us to examine them,” he added.

On 10 September, the Speaker announced in the Parliament that the said NCM could not be accepted in its present form, citing reports from the AG’s Department and the Parliamentary Secretariat as the grounds for his decision. Since then, the Opposition has been demanding that both the said reports be tabled in the House. However, the Speaker has shown no indication that he intends to do so.