Debate on new govt’s Supplementary Estimate on 07 June

The debate on the Supplementary Estimate of Rs. 695 billion which is to be presented next Tuesday (o7) by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe would be taken up for debate on the following day (08), Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake said.The Secretary General said that the Resolutions under Section 8 of the Appropriation Act No. 7 of 2020 are to be passed following the debate on Wednesday (08).The decisions were taken at the Committee on Parliamentary Business chaired by Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, yesterday (02) morning.

Furthermore, Regulations as mentioned in the Gazette Notification No. 2274/42 dated 09 April 2022 imposed under the Import and Export (Control) Act and the Regulation under the Local Treasury Bills Ordinance for the purpose of increasing the Credit limit by one trillion rupees are to be passed without a debate on Tuesday .Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe will then make a special statement on the current situation in the country and the adjournment debate on the said statement will be held until 5.30 pm.

The Sri Lanka Electricity (Amendment) Bill (Second Reading) and Regulations under the Petroleum Resources Act are scheduled to be taken up for debate until 4.30 pm and passed in Parliament.Thereafter, time has been allotted for Questions at the Adjournment Time from 4.30 pm to 4.50 pm followed by the Motion at the Adjournment Time by the Government from 4.50 pm to 5.30 pm.

Furthermore, it has been decided to set aside time from 10.00 am to 5.30 pm on June 10th for the Vote of Condolences on the murder of Member of Parliament Amarakeerthi Athukorala, who was killed by a mob on May 09 at Nittambuwa.Parliament meets daily at 10.00 am and except for June 10th, time has been allotted from 10.00 am to 11.00 am each day to raise Questions for Oral Answers.

Amendments brought in by Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena, to increase the strength of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and the Committee on Public Petitions in Parliament pertaining to its review mechanism was considered.Accordingly, it has been decided to convene a special meeting of the Committee on Parliamentary Business Next Tuesday (07) at 2.30 pm to discuss this matter further.

The Committee also drew attention to the letter sent by the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance proposing the importance of maintaining the business of Parliament with a minimum of paper use in relation to the creation of an eco-friendly e-government service while minimizing costs. The Committee also focused on the possibility of submitting soft copies of all reports and documents tabled in Parliament on a special web portal on the Parliamentary website for the use of Members of Parliament.Accordingly, the Speaker has given the necessary instructions by the unanimous decision of the Members of the Committee to take the necessary action expeditiously in the future.The Committee also decided to set aside Monday, July 04th as a special parliamentary day to take up 50 Questions for Oral Answers which could not be taken up earlier in Parliament due to various reasons.