GL urges Speaker not to certify Online Safety Bill over its shady passage

The Speaker has no power to certify the Online Safety Bill (OSB) and he should not do so, dissident SLPP MP, Prof. G.L. Peiris has said.

Prof. Peiris said that a bill would come into effect when the Speaker certified it, but the OSB had not been passed following the proper procedure.

“This bill was passed in violation of the Constitution and the Standing Orders in parliament. Therefore, the Speaker must not certify it.”

Prof. Peiris said the Supreme Court had previously insisted that some amendments had to be made to the OSB because certain provisions were not consistent with the Constitution. There were 54 sections in the Bill, and 37 of them had been found to be inconsistent with the Constitution, he said.

“Unless the government makes the necessary amendments, it has to pass the bill by a two-thirds majority. This is how it usually works. When the Supreme Court says certain amendments have to be made, the government is bound to present the necessary amendments at the committee stage. All MPs must have a copy of the amendments that the government will make on their table. The MPs can then check the amendments and be satisfied that the government has made the necessary changes in line with the Supreme Court’s recommendations,” Prof. Peiris said.

Prof. Peiris said the MPs were not sure whether the government had made the necessary changes in line with the Supreme Court’s recommendations.

“This is why we are uring the Speaker not to certify OSB,” Prof. Peiris said.

(SI)