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Tuesday, 9 January 2018 00:38 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Skandha Gunasekara
Despite prominent lawmakers yesterday calling for the bond report to be tabled in Parliament during Wednesday’s special session, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya asserted that no decision has been taken on the matter so far.
Acknowledging Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s request, Speaker Jayasuriya scheduled a special session of Parliament for Wednesday (10), Acting Secretary General of Parliament Neil Iddawela told the Daily FT.
“Parliament session will be held at 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday “in pursuance of Standing Order 14, requested by the Prime Minister,” Iddawela said.
Parliament was initially listed to convene for the new year on 23 January.
Following the release of the report on the Treasury bond scam by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry last week, there was an outcry from various political parties to convene Parliament early to debate the bond report.
However, Leader of the House Minister Lakshman Kiriella, speaking to the Daily FT, questioned as to how the report could be debated if it was yet to be tabled in Parliament.
“Even I haven’t seen the bond report. I brought it to the notice of the Speaker that Parliament must be given the bond report. If we are to have a debate, the report must be tabled in the House. The report should have been out by now,” the Leader of the House said.
Meanwhile, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has called for a party leaders meeting to be held today.
Leader of the Joint Opposition in Parliament MP Dinesh Gunawardena told the Daily FT that the party leaders would discuss the agenda for Wednesday’s parliamentary session.
“The Speaker requested us to attend the party leaders meeting on Tuesday. We will decide the program for Wednesday’s special session of Parliament. It will also be decided if Parliament sessions will continue during the rest of the week or if they will be limited to just one day,”
MP Gunawardena said the Joint Opposition had requested President Sirisena yesterday to table the bond report in Parliament or to give a copy of the report to the Joint Opposition.
“The report should be tabled in Parliament. It seems that everyone in the Government hierarchy is unaware of the contents of the report,” he said.
When contacted, Speaker Jayasuriya informed the Daily FT that a decision was yet to be taken on the issue.
“We have not decided yet. We will decide in the coming days whether the report will be tabled,” the Speaker said.
President Sirisena last week in a hard-hitting statement on the bond report and its recommendations said that new laws would be introduced to prosecute those involved in the country’s largest finance scandal and to recover the missing funds.
