Parliament will convene for four days from September 8 to 11, Secretary General of Parliament Kushani Rohanadeera has announced.
The week’s business was settled at a meeting of the Committee on Parliamentary Business held on August 20, chaired by Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, according to a statement from the Parliamentary Communications Department.
The order paper
Each sitting day opens at 9.30 a.m. with business under Standing Orders 22(1) to (6), followed by question time.
On Tuesday, September 8, the House debates for approval two Orders published in Extraordinary Gazettes Nos. 2489/22 and 2493/19 under the Motor Traffic Act (Chapter 203), from 11.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. A half-hour adjournment-time debate on a motion moved by the Opposition follows.
On Wednesday, September 9, the sitting includes a half-hour slot for Questions to the Prime Minister, and the Second Reading debate on the Chief of Defence Staff (Repeal) Bill occupies the afternoon.
On Thursday, September 10, the House debates a Resolution under the Women’s Empowerment Act for approval.
Friday, September 11 is given over to Private Members’ Motions. Ada Derana listed the subjects as regulation of petroleum and fuel, water regulation, birth-rate incentives, protection of the Diyagama Forest, a pension deduction affecting Pirivena teachers, development of the Kithul industry, and a medical faculty for the South Eastern University.
What is at stake
The Chief of Defence Staff (Repeal) Bill is the most substantial item. The post of Chief of Defence Staff was created in 2009 to sit above the three service commanders; repealing the enabling law would remove that statutory office.
The Daily Mirror’s report of the schedule matched Ada Derana’s on the sitting days, the committee date and the Motor Traffic Act orders, but did not itemise the Friday motions.
The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution — the subject of thirteen Supreme Court petitions and sustained objection from the Bar Association of Sri Lanka — does not appear on the published order paper for the week.
