Criticism of Basil’s silence on economic situation throws House into turmoil

FM has not spoken for three months – Opposition

All questions are answered by State Minister, claims govt.

I can’t force MPs to attend parliament – Speaker

By Saman Indrajith

A tense situation arose in Parliament yesterday when the Opposition asked the Speaker to summon Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa to the House. Opposition MPs claimed Minister Rajapaksa had not spoken in the House for three months.

A heated argument ensued between the government and opposition after Chief Opposition Whip SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella, raising a point of order, said that Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa had not spoken in the chamber of the House for the past three months or answered questions posed by the MPs. “There is an economic crisis. It was on 10 December last year that the Finance Minister spoke in this House. For the past three months he has not spoken a single word. The Finance Minister should be here to explain to the House the country’s economic situation. We call upon the Speaker to summon the Finance Minister to Parliament immediately. He has time to go around the world begging for money, but cannot come here. This is a shame. He has asked for USD 300 million from Russia, which is fighting a war. The Speaker should summon him. As per Article 148 of the Constitution parliament has the controlling powers over public finances. If the Speaker fails to protect that power what is he doing in that chair,” MP Kiriella queried.

Leader of the House Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said that the Chief Opposition Whip should withdraw his statement that the Finance Minister was not attending the House. All the questions raised by the MPs expecting answers from the Finance Minister had been answered to by the State Finance Minister on behalf of the minister. Even debates have been conducted in this House on documents tabled by the Finance Ministry. The Finance Minister came to the House from time to time. It is wrong to state that he did not come to parliament. Some of his statements have been debated here.

Chief Opposition Whip: The Finance Minister should come to the House and make a statement on the current economic situation. You have asked for USD 300 million from Russia. It is a country facing a war. It is a shame to ask for money from a country at war.

Kurunegala District SJB MP Nalin Bandara: Ukrainian President addressed the parliament of that country in the middle of a war.

SLPP MP Jayantha Ketagoda: The Finance Minister came to the chamber. You did not see him because you were asleep then.

Chief Government Whip Highways Minister Johnston Fernando: It is wrong for the Chief Opposition Whip and Opposition MPs to say that the Finance Minister did not present reports to the House regularly. How many times has the Opposition leader raised questions under the Standing Order 27/2 to be answered by the Finance Minister? All those questions were answered fully by the State Minister of Finance as per the Finance Minister’s instructions. MP Kiriella says that his country is bankrupt. I would like to recall the conduct of finance ministers during the times of your government. One of them resigned and did not contest the election. Another has lost the election. There was one state finance minister who did not face the election and came to parliament through the national list. That was how the finance ministers of your government fared. You have been saying the economy would collapse after 01 Jan, this year. Arrangements had even been made to come live on Facebook when the country’s economy collapsed. Did that happen? We have given time for a debate to the Opposition today. No other government has done so. You can compare how much time you allocated for the Opposition during the times of the five year yahapalana government. We have given you time to state whatever issues you have. Even today we have allocated five to six hours for the Opposition. MP Kiriella stands up at the commencement of sittings in a bid to be seen on TV. But television stations are not interested in what he says. This is the truth. He is my friend. He is doing his best to attract media attention, but in vain. The issue raised by him today is also the same. Everybody knows that the Finance Minister is controlling the economy well.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena: I am not in a position to force a minister to make a ministerial statement. But if any Member of Parliament continues to abstain from coming to parliament for three months, he will lose his parliament seat as per the Standing Orders.