Speaker gags Opp. from speaking on President’s nominees to commissions

Wednesday, 25 November 2020 00:27 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Opp. MPs raise questions over businessman appointed to PSC over fears company linked to him could benefit from Govt. tenders
Speaker says such appointments prerogative of President and House cannot discuss them
Opp. Lawmakers accuse Speaker of bias and say Parliament has right to discuss such appointments

By Chandani Kirinde

Opposition lawmakers yesterday strongly objected to a ruling by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena disallowing MPs from discussing appointments made to independent commissions by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

“Only the President has the authority to make appointments to these commissions. You cannot discuss that here,” the Speaker told SJB MPs Manusha Nanayakkara and S.M. Marikkar, when the two spoke on appointments made to the Public Service Commission (PSC).

Nanayakkara’s objection to the inclusion of a businessman to the PSC was on the ground that he has links to the company that has bid for a tender to import rapid COVID test kits. “We can’t be sure that such a person on the Commission will not influence the bidding process as there are public officials in the evaluation committees,” Nanayakkara said.

The Speaker however objected to the MP speaking on the issue, saying he cannot discuss the President’s appointees in Parliament.

Nanayakkara however queried on what grounds the Speaker was disallowing such a discussion about a member of a commission, which has been created by an Act of Parliament and one in which its members names are sent to the Parliamentary Council for observations.

The Speaker did not cite any Standing Order while giving his ruling thus prompting Marikkar to rise to a Point of Order and charge that there is a move to award the tender to bring down 500,000 rapid HIV test kits the same way the tender for the rapid antigen test kits were awarded recently to the same company.

The Speaker however disallowed the discussion on the matter amidst shouting from opposition benches that he was being biased.

The five-member Parliamentary Council is headed by the Speaker, and its four other members are all parliamentarians, including the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.