MPs with Dual Citizenship: Parliament has no authority to check- Speaker

• It is a matter for the judiciary to rule on it
• We go by the gazette notification issued by the EC announcing the names of MPs

By Kelum Bandara

In the midst of controversy over dual citizens allegedly serving as MPs, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said Parliament had no authority to ascertain it, and anyone should move court for legal interpretation in this regard.
The latest constitutional change incorporated as 21st Amendment does not provide for dual citizens to serve as MPs. After the enactment of it, some MPs such as Prof. Channa Jayasumana said there are around ten dual citizens serving as MPs in the current Parliament and they should honour the Constitution and step down. 
The Speaker told Daily Mirror that Parliament had no right to verify such details, and it was a matter for the judiciary to rule on it.

“We go by the gazette notification issued by the Election Commission announcing the names of MPs,” he said in response to a question by Daily Mirror.