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Parliament to convene despite rise in MPs with Covid

08 Feb 2022

By Buddhika Samaraweera Despite several parliamentarians, including Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, having tested positive for Covid-19, the Parliament is scheduled to convene today (8). Speaking to The Morning yesterday (7), a senior official of the Parliament said that no decision has been taken so far to postpone the parliamentary sittings. The official also said that the session would be held today as scheduled, since the notices have already been given to the MPs. However, the parliament official said that a meeting of party leaders was scheduled to be held last afternoon in order to discuss the current situation and the conduct of future sessions. “There was to be a meeting of the party leaders. It was hoped that the current situation, including the Covid-19 infections among MPs, would be discussed there. After the meeting only could we decide regarding the future sessions. However, the session which is scheduled to be held tomorrow (8) will be held as there is no time to postpone it now.” The Morning on 27 January reported that despite several government and opposition MPs having tested positive for Covid-19 during the past few days, there would not be a closure of the Parliament. When contacted by The Morning to query whether there would be any closure of the Parliament due to the matter, Speaker Abeywardena on 26 January said that the situation was not too serious for the Parliament to be closed. However, on 28 January, the Speaker also tested positive for Covid-19. It was recently reported that Public Security Minister Rear Admiral (Retd.) Dr. Sarath Weerasekera; Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Government MPs Amarakeerthi Athukorala, Sarathi Dushmantha, and Nalaka Bandara Kottegoda; Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MPs Rohini Kumari Wijerathna Kavirathna and Harshana Rajakaruna; and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam had tested positive for Covid-19. In addition, Warehouse Facilities, Container Yards, Port Supply Facilities, and Boats and Shipping Industry Development State Minister Jayantha Samaraweera and Vehicle Regulation, Bus Transport Services and Train Compartments, Motor Car Industry, and Community Police Services State Minister Dilum Amunugama had also contracted Covid-19.


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