Online Safety Act: Gevindu flays govt. for ignoring Standing Orders when passing laws

By Saman Indrajith

SLPP dissident MP Gevindu Cumaratunga yesterday told Parliament that the Online Safety Bill (OSB) had been rushed through Parliament with no heed for the Standing Orders pertaining to passing new legislations.

The MP said so after government MP Jayantha Weerasinghe raised a privilege issue alleging that his privileges as an MP had been breached by a Sinhala newspaper report that said the Opposition was seeking to delay the placing of the Speaker’s signature on the Online Safety Bill. MP Weerasinghe stated that according to the newspaper report the Bill had been passed without all amendments recommended by the Supreme Court was wrong and demanded action against the reporter and publisher of the newspaper.

MP Cumaratunga said that it was wrong to state that government MPs’ privileges had been infringed by the newspaper report. “We do not see a breach of parliamentary privileges in this newspaper story. It is right and we believe that it is the duty of the media to inform the public when the Bills in this House are passed without giving regard to the procedure outlined in Standing Orders. It is now public knowledge that not all amendments recommended by the Supreme Court were included in the Bill.

The draft bill tabled in this Parliament contained 56 clauses. After that, a large number of petitioners challenged the Bill’s constitutionality before the Supreme Court. Soon afterwards, even before the hearing commenced, the government through the Attorney General informed the court that they would amend 31 out of 56 clauses. The question is whether the Attorney General had submitted the first draft of the Bill, knowing that there contained 31 clauses against the Constitution.”

“As per Page 47 of the Standing Orders, when an MP raises a point of order during the Committee Stage, the Chair should take that point into consideration and the functions of the House cannot proceed without the Chair giving his opinion on the point that has been raised. There was no respect for the Standing Orders on that day. As MPs, we believe that this House should be guided by the Standing Orders.