UNP, JVP say Govt. violates Standing Orders

If a Bill is presented, a copy of it should be kept on our tables. It is the tradition

In an unusual deviation of parliamentary traditions and standing orders, the copies of the bills presented in Parliament had been delivered to the residence of United National Party (UNP) MP Ajith P. Perera, and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) headquarters on Saturday, before dawn, party officials said yesterday.

According to standing orders, the copies of a bill, once presented in the House, should be kept on the tables of each of the MPs. However, the government presented 20 finance bills in Parliament last Friday. But there were an insufficient number of copies for them to be placed on the MPs' tables. After objections by the Opposition, the government promised to hand over separate copies of each bill to every member but failed to do so.

At the end of the day's business, UNP MP Ajith P.Perera raised this issue. He said that he had received only the copies of 15 Bills and, therefore, the remaining five Bills could not be considered as having been presented in Parliament.

"If a Bill is presented, a copy of it should be kept on our tables. It is the tradition. There are no such copies tabled," he said.

JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti also raised the same issue, and expressed his concern over the delay.

Meanwhile, the UNP MP told Daily Mirror yesterday that the office of the Leader of the House had delivered some copies at 1.00 am on Saturday.

"A vehicle had stopped near my residence. My neighbours had noted the suspicious behaviour of the persons in it. Alarmed by this behaviour, my neighbours had made inquiries. They had handed over a parcel containing the copies of the Bills to the neighbour to be delivered to me later. Is this the way the parliamentary authorities act?" he asked.

He said, "The UNP will object to this act when Parliament next meets on March 19. There is a callous disregard of standing orders."

The JVP said they had received the copes of the bills at midnight on Friday

JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake said at a media brirfing yesterday that these Bills had not been presented to the House as per standing orders. He said all members should receive the copies of the Bills beforehand so that they could file objections if necessary. "Therefore this is a clear violation of standing orders," he said. Mr. Dissanayake said Parliament Proceedings cannot be violated in this man

ner.

He had received only the copies of 15 Bills and, therefore, the remaining five Bills could not be considered as having been presented in Parliament