SJB turns down invitation to attend PM’s meeting

Saturday, 2 May 2020 15:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) today declined to attend the meeting of all 225 members of Parliament called by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

SJB General Secretary Ranjith Maddumabandara issuing a statement said, that at a time when the President has rejected all requests to reconvene parliament there was no point in attending a meeting of parliamentarians, as such a gathering would not have the powers to pass law or take steps to address Constitutional concerns.

“We were disappointed by the lack of respect shown in the response sent by a top public official. We have not changed our position. We support reconvening parliament under former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya,” the statement said.

Maddumabandara also accused the Government of double standards, stating that it has poisoned the public against all 225 MPs but also called for them to meet on Monday at Temple Trees.

He insisted that the SJB had made every attempt to cooperate with the Government and attended previous meetings in good faith to support COVID-19 countering measures but were disappointed by the Government’s use of curfew measures to arrest critics and politicise relief measures.

On Friday the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) also rejected their invitation. However, the United National Party (UNP) is expected to attend the Monday meeting.