SLPP ready to move resolution: GL

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) said yesterday it was prepared to move a resolution calling for the dissolution of Parliament.

SLPP chairman G.L. Peiris said though the government was preparing to present the annual budget soon, the need of the hour was a general election.

He said the law required that the presidential elections be conducted before December 9 and that election should be held on a Saturday.

Prof. Peiris said December 7 would be the last Saturday available for such a exercise. “It means elections are not many months away.this period will be a wasted period since nothing beneficial can be done for people,” he said and added that as such parliamentary elections should be held instead. Parliament can be dissolved only by passing a resolution with a twothirds approval “We are prepared to give leadership for it.the resolution can be adopted by a two-thirds approval in Parliament,” Prof. Peiris said and added that the government’s attempt to form a national government was ridiculous. He said a future government under the leadership of Mahinda Rajapaksa would change the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. He said though the objectives of the 19th Amendment were desirable, they had not been accomplished on the ground. Prof. Peiris said the objective was to ensure independent appointments in the government sector, but it had not happened. He cited the present crisis in the appointment of judicial officers as an example. Referring to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya’s remarks that seniority was not the sole criterion, he asked what then was the actual criterion.