The alleged violation of parliamentary privileges by a Supreme Court (SC) order has been referred to the parliamentary Committee on Ethics and Privileges after it was passed as a parliamentary resolution and not at the sole discretion of the Speaker, The Daily Morning learned.
This matter had been raised by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Premnath C. Dolawatte.
According to the Speaker’s Office, the matter had been referred to the committee only after it was passed as a resolution.
Dolawatte had raised a privileges-related issue with regard to the interim order issued by the SC, through which Finance, Economic Stabilisation, and National Policies Ministry and Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardana was prevented from withholding the money allocated for elections in the 2023 Budget.
It had then been referred to the Parliamentary Committee on Ethics and Privileges by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (26), Speaker Abeywardana’s Media Secretary Indunil Yapa Abeywardana said: “The people may think that the Speaker has referred this matter to the Parliamentary Committee on Ethics and Privileges at his sole discretion, but it is not the case.
“The matter of privilege raised by Dolawatte was passed as a parliamentary resolution. It was only after that that the Speaker took steps to refer it to the committee. It was not done at his sole discretion. Once a resolution is passed in Parliament, it is normal for it to be referred to the relevant committee.”
Following the issuance of the interim order, Dolawatte raised a matter of privilege in Parliament on 7 March, through which he claimed that he saw the said interim order as “a clear breach of the privileges and powers of Parliament”. The matter had then been referred to the relevant committee by the Speaker.
However, several MPs representing the Opposition, including Chief Opposition Whip and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Lakshman Kiriella, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader and SJB MP Rauff Hakeem, and MP Prof. G.L. Peiris had recently urged Speaker Abeywardana to not refer the matter to the Committee on Ethics and Privileges.
They claimed that it was wrong of Dolawatte to have criticised an interim order issued by the SC and that no privileges had been violated through the interim order in question.
Source By themorning.lk
