Speaker assures bond debate not limited to one day

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya yesterday asserted that the parliamentary debate on the bond report would not be limited to a single day and that additional dates could be scheduled at an appropriate time.

In a statement to the media, the Speaker pointed out that the date of 6 February was selected solely for the purpose of debating the report before the upcoming local government elections. Accordingly, the Speaker elaborates that as there was a demand by various parties to debate the bond report before the elections and due to the Elections Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya rejecting 8 February for the debate as it was too close to the poll date, a majority of political parties had given their consent to conducting the debate on 6 February.

Soon after communicating this date to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and obtaining his consent, the Premier officially wrote to the Speaker requesting under Standing Order 14 that Parliament be convened on 6 February to debate the bond and PRECIFAC reports.

However, the Speaker in his statement noted that he wanted to assure all parties and the general public that the bond and PRECIFAC report debates need not be curtailed to a single day and that more days could be arranged to debate these reports after the conclusion of the local government polls.