Cabinet erupts over bond debate

• Nimal, Susil and Dayasiri say cannot have a parliamentary debate without knowing contents of the report
• Kiriella shoots back that debate was granted following requests from SLFP and other parties

A heated argument broke out during yesterday’s Cabinet meeting over the parliamentary debate on the bond commission report scheduled for today, with Sri Lanka Freedom Party ministers stressing on the futility of the exercise if the report was not made available.

SLFP ministers who raised concerns were at the receiving end of scathing criticism from United National Party (UNP) stalwart Minister Lakshman Kiriella.

“Did you not know that to debate a report you have to table it first before you demanded a debate?” Kiriella is reported to have asked the SLFP ministers who raised the issue.

The Minister had pointed out that the report had been in the possession of President Maithripala Sirisena, the leader of the SLFP.

“It was with your leader,” Kiriella was quoted as having said to the SLFP ministers.

SLFP senior Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva had first raised the issue at the beginning of the Cabinet meeting stating that it was not practical to hold a parliamentary debate on the bond commission report when no one was aware of its contents.

SLFP ministers Dayasiri Jayasekara and Susil Premajayantha also supported de Silva’s argument, the Daily FT learned. This resulted in a strong riposte from Minister Kiriella who claimed that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe agreed to a debate on the matter only because there were requests from other parties.

“I told them that they called for the debate only to gain political mileage, now they are saying there is no point because the political trick has backfired on them,” Minister Kiriella told the Daily FT.

The ministers were not able to agree on the issue despite the argument and left without a clear understanding of what it is to take place in Parliament today.

“I don’t know what will happen, we know nothing about the content of the report. How can we have a debate? We will have to see how it goes,” one SLFP senior told the Daily FT.