P’ment to adopt newly-drafted Standing Orders

Parliament will adopt the newly-drafted Standing Orders from the first sitting in July. The new Standing Orders will be followed by a code of conduct and ethics to ensure lawmakers do not behave in an unruly manner as has been observed on numerous occasions in Parliament.

The Standing Orders now in practice in Parliament were drafted in 1979 and were amended in February 1993. Tabling the final draft of the new Standing Orders yesterday in Parliament, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya requested the members to carefully go through the changes and to identify any required last-minute changes. The members are supposed to notify the Secretary General of Parliament before 21 June if changes are required. The copies of the final draft of the Code of Conduct for lawmakers were also distributed among MPs. 

“The revision of Standing Orders to suit modern times was a long-felt need. The sitting time of Parliament, the role of newly-introduced sectoral oversight committees and the recently adopted electronic voting system will also be included in the new Standing Orders,” said Speaker Jayasuriya.

The Standing Orders draft has been prepared after lengthy deliberations of the Standing Orders Committee headed by the Speaker followed by several rounds of discussions with MPs and party leaders. AH