House sittings curtailed over corona fears

By Saman Indrajith

Parliament is scheduled to meet only for two hours this morning and Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi will present two new regulations under the Medical Ordinance.

 Parliament sources said the House would convene from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon today and two regulations to the Medical Ordinance would be taken up for debate.

No time would be allotted for Questions for Oral Answers and journalists would not be allowed to cover the sessions.

Meanwhile, the Committee on Parliamentary Business chaired by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena decided to meet on 12 November and pass the Appropriation Bill presented by the Minister of Finance for the service expenditure for the financial year 2020 following the second and third readings.

It has been decided not to allow anyone other than Members of Parliament, Invited Officers, Security Personnel and the Parliament staff to enter the Parliament complex on the sitting days.

Those present at the meeting were Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena, Chief Government Whip Johnston Fernando, Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella, Prof. G. L. Peiris, Dullas Alahapperuma, Mahinda Amaraweera, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Prasanna Ranatunga, Ali Sabry and MPs Mahinda Samarasinghe, Rauff Hakeem, Dilan Perera, as well as the Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake and the Deputy Secretary General and Chief of Staff Neil Iddawela.

Political sources said that the presence of people other than Members of Parliament, Invited Officers, Security Personnel and the Parliament staff was likely to be curtailed during budget presentation and subsequent proceedings as well. So far, two journalists who covered parliament proceedings last week have been tested positive for COVID-19.