14 December 2021 12:00 am Views - 110
By Yohan Perera
The sudden prorogation of Parliament is questionable, the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) said yesterday.
SJB National Organiser Tissa Attanayake told a press conference that the move by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to prorogue the House is questionable as there is no reason for such a move.
Once prorogued, all the pending businesses before the House will lapse. The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) and the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) will have to be reconstituted. However, the select committee will continue to function in the same way.
“We wonder whether the reason behind the prorogation may be the work carried out by committees such as COPE and COPA. I am a member of COPA and the committee was able to uncover many scams lately. We have even discussed with the Attorney General’s Department the possibility of filing legal action against heads of some State institutions. One wonders whether the House was prorogued because of such action. Also, it may be that the government wants to change the heads of COPA and COPE,” Mr. Attanayake said while highlighting that the prorogation will make the committees defunct.
“One cannot conclude that the economic crisis was a reason for the proroguing as it will not help resolve such a crisis,” he added.
Mr. Attanayake stressed that the President should explain to the nation as to why he prorogued the House.