Govt. adds another MP to its rank

Saturday, 11 November 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Skandha Gunasekara

Piyasena Gamage in Parliament yesterday took oaths before Speaker Karu Jayasuriya as a Parliamentarian from the Galle District, filling the seat vacated by former MP Geetha Kumarasinghe.

MP Gamage lacked the required amount of preferential votes during the last General election in 2015, to enter Parliament from the Galle district, allowing Kumarasinghe to enter Parliament.

However, following Kumarasinghe’s removal from her Parliamentary seat, the UPFA nominated Piyasena Gamage, who came second to Kumarasinghe at the 2015 polls, to replace Kumarasinghe.

Kumarasinghe, although elected on the UPFA ticket, aligned herself with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and sat with the Joint Opposition soon after entering Parliament.

MP Gamage pledged his support for the Sirisena camp during the last general election and his appointment could be taken as a move by President Maithripala Sirisena to further consolidate his power within the Parliament as well as the political arena.

Kumarasinghe was disqualified from her Parliamentary post, losing all her Parliamentary privileges in accordance with the Supreme Court (SC) decision last Thursday (2) upholding the ruling given by the Appeal Court in May to the effect that Kumarasinghe could not function as a Parliamentarian due to her being a dual citizenship.

In 2015, a petition was filed by four persons from the Galle District challenging Kumarasinghe’s seat in Parliament, as she had contested the last General Election while holding dual citizenship in both Sri Lanka and Switzerland.

The Appeal Court decreed that the Kumarasinghe could not be elected to Parliament as the Constitution stipulates that a candidate cannot contest a general election while being a dual citizen.

Soon after taking oaths before the House, MP Gamage acknowledged MPs in both the Government ranks and the Opposition before being seated among the Government MPs.