PHU accuses Speaker of altering Hansard content

He said the act of forging documents is a punishable offence which amounts to an imprisonment up to three years. “We expect to lodge a complaint to the Fraud Investigation Bureau on Tuesday over this

Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) Leader Udaya Gammanpila yesterday accused Speaker Karu Jayasuriya of altering the contents of the Hansard, which recorded what has happened in parliament chamber during the no-confidence motion debate on November 14.

Minister Gammanpila said there were changes between the unedited copy of November 14 Hansard which he recently obtained and the official copy issued on November 23.

“According to the video footage of November 14 parliament session, the Speaker says he would take up the vote by voice. He says there is no majority for the new government. In his words, the speaker says “there is no majority for that”. The unedited version of Hansard include all these quotations. However, the copy issued later on includes the altered phrase “There is no majority for that, for them” and also a newly added phrase called “the motion is carried”. Therefore, Speaker has altered the Hansard in favour of the UNP,” he told a news briefing.

He said the act of forging documents is a punishable offence which amounts to an imprisonment up to three years. “We expect to lodge a complaint to the Fraud Investigation Bureau on Tuesday over this,” he said.

Meanwhile, the minister said the Supreme Court has not made a decision to give an order on the parliament dissolution case on December 7 as claimed by many. He said the case would be heard on December 4,5 and 6.

“Therefore, a stay order was issued till 7th. The date of the ruling would be announced on the evening of 6th. It could be 7th, 10th or any other day,” he said.