Gold smuggling MP barred from parliamentary committees

• The motion was moved by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and approved by the House

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana

A motion to remove MP Ali Sabri Raheem from all parliamentary committees was approved by the House yesterday.  

The motion which was moved by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa was unanimously approved by the House. MP Raheem was caught trying to smuggle gold and smart phones on May this year. 

 The reasons cited for the removal of the MP from all committees was that he had committed the illegal act and had been referred to the committee on ethics and privileges of Parliament for an investigation while involvement of the MP in committees could create a problematic situation.  

MP Raheem represented seven committees in Parliament including the committee on ethics and privileges, ministerial consultative committee on fisheries, select committee to look into child malnutrition, sectoral committee in environment, sectoral committee on religious affairs and co-existence, subcommittee on identifying priorities for formulating national policies for the national council and the committee to look into gender equality as per Parliament website. Accordingly he will be removed from all these committees.