By Skandha Gunasekara Parliament is to introduce an online registration system for new MPs for the next Parliament, The Sunday Morning reliably learnt. “Earlier, all members had to come to Parliament and give their particulars. This time, we will have an online registration portal so that MPs don’t have to come to Parliament,” Parliament General  Secretary Dhammika Dasanayake told The Sunday Morning. He said the online portal would be accessible once the Election Commission (EC) had issued the relevant gazette declaring the new Parliament. “We have already set up the portal so maybe next week, once the EC issues the gazette for the new Parliament, we will see to it that the link for the portal is shared among all the MPs, so that they can send their details.” A digital picture along with the relevant details could be sent once the MPs receive their passwords for the online portal. “Once the MPs are declared through the gazette and we know the MPs, then we can send each MP a password so that they can access the portal and submit their details along with a digital photograph. This way, we can take all preliminary steps with the assistance of such information,” he said, noting the portal would be on the official Parliament website. He said this was a step to modernise the administrative aspects within Parliament in addition to being a Covid-19 protection measure. “We have compiled a common set of forms on the online portal so that all information is put together which can then be communicated to the relevant departments in Parliament automatically. Each section will get the information they require.”