Speaker says Parliament rendered exemplary service restoring democracy in past five years

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya says he is pleased with the service rendered by the present Parliament, the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka which commenced in September 2015, during the last five years and the world has recognised that it has done much to restore democracy.

He said Sri Lanka’s Parliament is an exemplary model to the world and urged the new Speaker who is to come in three months to take the image forward. 

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya made this observation addressing a special ceremony held in Parliament on Monday (30 December) to present school equipment and educational scholarships for the New Year to the children of Parliament staff. 

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya​

Strengthening of the parliamentary committee process, building inter-parliamentary relations, empowering process of independent commissions, passing important legislation that strengthen civil rights such as the Right to Information Act, establishment of a Select Committee to look into Parliamentary Procedure as well as National Unity and Reconciliation, the opening of parliamentary activities to the media are important milestones that have attracted global attention, the Speaker said.

Pointing out that Sri Lanka, which had a strong economy at the time of independence, could not be happier with the current situation, the Speaker said the main reasons for the situation was the ethnic and religious disunity. “We can only hope that our great children who are presently victorious in the world will rebuild the past glory,” the Speaker said. Expressing his views further the Speaker said from now on “we should not only produce Sri Lankan children but also children of the world.”

“Young people who have recently produced world-class creations have proven that we have the best who can be undefeatable in the world,” he pointed out.

Jayasuriya said when he retired from his post as Speaker, he could recall focusing his attention on the education of the children of the Parliament staff as a special task that he was able to do beyond his official duties.

Special thanks were extended to the Speaker by the Parliamentary Welfare Society for focusing on the education of their children and providing them with opportunities to obtain a large number of foreign scholarships.