GOVT. TO BOYCOTT PARLIAMENT

Dinesh says Speaker will be able to act illegally only till the SC verdict on Dec. 7 UPFA won’t accept Karu as Speaker Will boycott sessions until Speaker acts according to the Constitution

House Leader and Minister, Dinesh Gunawardane said yesterday they had decided to boycott parliamentary sessions until Speaker Karu Jayasuriya acted according to the Constitution, Standing Orders and parliamentary tradition.

The Speaker will be able to act illegally only till the Supreme Court gives its verdict on December 7

He told a news conference held at the parliament complex that they would take a decision on attending parliament sessions after considering the order paper for the next day.

“We walked out of Chambers yesterday in protest of the Speaker’s actions,” Mr. Gunawardena said.

He said even minority governments had been given a majority in the Committee of Selection in the past and neither had a vote been taken on such a committee in parliamentary tradition. “The vote was taken on a request made by Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Lakshman Kiriella,” Mr. Gunawardena said.

He said the Speaker would be able to act illegally only till the Supreme Court gave its verdict on December 7.

He said the Speaker was convening parliament disregarding the Parliament calendar and without printing the order paper given by the government.