UNP members not sworn in

Irangika Range and Sandasen Marasinghe

Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara yesterday rejected a request made by UNP to allow three of its members to take oaths as new MPs. He further said that Parliament had been summoned only to extend the Emergency Regulations and no other business could be permitted.

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament that the three UNP members should be allowed to take their oaths as new MPs in accordance with Parliamentary traditions.

He explained that the Elections Commissioner has already gazetted three vacancies and the three new MPs must be permitted to take their oaths.

Meanwhile, Leader of the House and Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said the only business of the House was for the specific purpose of extending the state of Emergency once the House was re-convened after dissolution according to the Attorney General’s advice.

“There is no provision in the Constitution for any other business.

You may interpret it as a constitutional lapse, but we cannot change it now,” he said.

Export Development and International Trade Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris said “Parliament was summoned to meet yesterday for the specific purpose of extending Emergency regulations. No other business would take place on such a day,” he said.

SLMC Leader Rauff Hakim said if these UNP members are not allowed to take their oaths, it will be a serious travesty for the justice since it has been already gazetted by the Elections Commissioner.