Parliament began its first sitting week of September on Tuesday, September 8, with four sitting days scheduled through September 11, the Parliamentary Secretariat said.
The House convened at 9.30 a.m. under Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne, Ada Derana reported.
The week’s order paper
Tuesday opens with two orders issued under the Motor Traffic Act, published in Extraordinary Gazettes No. 2489/22 and 2493/19, taken up for debate and approval. An adjournment motion brought by the Opposition follows.
Wednesday, September 9 carries the week’s most significant item: the second reading debate on the Chief of Defence Staff (Removal) Bill.
Thursday, September 10 takes up a resolution under the Women Empowerment Act for debate and approval, and Friday, September 11 is given over to seven Private Members’ Motions.
Two things to watch
The Chief of Defence Staff post sits at the top of Sri Lanka’s military command structure, above the three service commanders. Ada Derana’s report gives the Bill’s title and its slot but no description of what the legislation would do, and does not say which minister is presenting it. The title indicates a measure dealing with removal from the office rather than the abolition of the post itself, but the report does not confirm that reading.
The same sitting week is the one in which the Supreme Court’s determination on the 22nd Amendment is expected to reach the Speaker. The order paper as published carries no slot for it — the determination is announced to the House when the Speaker receives it, rather than being scheduled in advance.
Namal Rajapaksa attends from remand
Ada Derana confirms that permission has been granted for Namal Rajapaksa, SLPP National Organiser and MP, currently in remand custody over the Airbus investigation, to attend Tuesday’s sitting. The arrangement was agreed on Monday after he wrote to the Secretary General requesting facilities to sit.
No report yet says whether he will attend all four sitting days or only Tuesday, or what escort arrangements apply inside the chamber.
Update, September 8: a second outlet calls it abolition — and Rajnath Singh will be watching
The Sunday Times, previewing Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit, describes Wednesday’s item as “a bill to abolish the Office of the Chief of the Defence Staff (OCDS)” — the abolition reading rather than the removal-from-office reading left open above.
That is a second outlet’s characterisation, not the Bill’s text, and it sits against a short title that still reads (Removal). The two are not necessarily in conflict: a Bill abolishing the office would remove its incumbent. But the point stands unresolved until the Bill itself or the presenting minister is on the record, and the Sunday Times does not name that minister either.
The paper adds a detail no local report carried: Singh’s Wednesday programme includes a visit to Parliament, where he will meet Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and observe proceedings. The Sunday Times calls the overlap coincidental — the visiting Indian Defence Minister will be in the chamber on the day it debates the future of Sri Lanka’s most senior military post. Singh’s three defence agreements with Sri Lanka are due to be exchanged the same morning.
