Parliamentary sessions extended to accommodate govt. rebels in debates

Parliamentary sessions would be extended by 30 minutes to allocate time for the SLPP dissident group MPs to participate in debates, a media statement issued by the Chief Opposition Whip’s office said.

It said that there had been a critical issue in allocating time to participate in debates for the SLPP dissident groups. There are four groups of MPs under the leaderships of MPs Dullas Alahapperuma, Wimal Weerawansa, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Maithripala Sirisena. None of these groups had been given time to participate in debates as neither opposition nor government was willing to spare time for them from the time allocated for each side. The dissident MP groups also stated that they would act independently even though they sat in the Opposition side of the Chamber. Following a proposal by Chief Opposition Whip Kiriella, the recent party leaders’ meeting decided to prolong the sitting time by 30 more minutes from 4.30 pm to 5 pm to accommodate the dissident MPs in the debates. The decision would be implemented with effect from this sitting week, said the office of the Chief Opposition Whip. (SI)