President opens new session of Parliament today

• Ceremonial sitting kept low-key minus tri-forces guard of honour, gun salute
• President to deliver Govt. policy statement at 10:00 a.m.
• Ceremonial opening follows the prorogation of Parliament on 12 Dec. 2021

By Chandani Kirinde

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will ceremonially declare open the Second Session of the Ninth Parliament of Sri Lanka this morning following which he will present the Government’s Policy Statement to the House.

The President’s address to Parliament is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. It will be his second address to Parliament since taking office in November 2019.

The ceremonial opening will be low-key in keeping with the request by the President, Parliament officials said. The ceremony will be minus the tri-forces guard of honour and the 21-gun salute, but will consist of a few cultural events, including ‘Jayamangala Gatha’ to be sung by students at President's Girls' College – Sri Jayewardenepura.

The President will be welcomed on arrival by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena and Parliament Secretary General Dhammika Dassanayaka and escorted into the Parliament building by the Sergeant-at-Arms, Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms and Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms.

Among those invited for today’s Parliament session are diplomats, former Presidents, Prime Ministers, the Chief Justice, Supreme Court Justices and the Attorney General. The number of invitees has been restricted in keeping with COVID-19 guidelines.

The President prorogued Parliament on 12 December 2021 and fixed 18 January for the commencement of a new session of the House.

The two-day debate on the Government’s policy statement will be held on Wednesday and Thursday.