Some SLPP MPs unhappy with prorogation of Parliament

By Easwaran Rutnam

Most Cabinet Ministers are said to have been kept in the dark over the move by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to prorogue Parliament on Sunday.

The President prorogued Parliament with effect from Sunday night and left for Singapore the next day on a private visit.

A senior Cabinet Minister, speaking on the condition of anonymity said that he and most others were caught by surprise when the President prorogued Parliament.

He said the reason behind the sudden decision to prorogue Parliament was not known.

Meanwhile, some ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MPs are said to be unhappy over the move to prorogue Parliament.

The move impacts the work of key Parliament committees, including that of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) headed by Professor Charitha Herath, the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) headed by Professor Tissa Vitharana and the Committee on Public Finance headed by MP Anura Priyadharshana Yapa.

COPE had been conducting inquiries into key Government institutions, including SriLankan Airlines and the Board of Investment (BOI), and officials from both institutions had been summoned and questioned.

However, with the?prorogation of Parliament the committees have been dissolved and their inquiries thrown back to square one.

The effect of a prorogation is to suspend all current business before the House and all proceedings pending at the time are quashed except impeachments.

In terms of Standing Orders of Parliament No. 114, the Committee of Selection has to be appointed and therefore, all the Committees for Special Purposes cease to function during the recess or the prorogation of Parliament and all of them have to be re-constituted at the commencement of each Session of Parliament except the Committee on High Posts, Sectoral Oversight Committees and Select Committees of Parliament. (Colombo Gazette)