SJB blames capricious act of Speaker and previous Leader of House for present crisis 

by Saman Indrajith

The main Opposition SJB yesterday said the Speaker and Leader of the House had conspired to deprive the Opposition of the chairmanship of the Finance Committee in Parliament and they must be held responsible for the present crisis situation, prevailing in the country.

Addressing the media at the Opposition Leader’s Office, in Colombo, Chief Opposition Whip and Kandy District SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella said that his party had been demanding the chairman post of the Finance Committee, since the commencement of Parliament, after the general election, in August 2020.

“As per the Standing Orders, governing the conduct of Parliament, the post of Finance Committee is reserved for an MP from the Opposition. It is the rule in all parliamentary democracies because that would ensure checks and balances. Instead, the Speaker, and the then Leader of the House, hatched a plot to take that post to the government. For the bad luck of the country, and its people, they were successful in enacting their conspiracy.

What they did was an appalling act against democracy. They suspended the Standing Orders and chose a government MP for the post. If we had the chance, we could have chosen Dr. Harsha de Silva, who is a senior economist. He could have foreseen the inevitable crisis two years back. We could have gone to the International Monetary Fund years ago. Then the people’s lot would have been much better than the present plight. It was prevented by the Speaker and the Leader of the House. Therefore they should be held responsible for the present crisis,” Kiriella said.

SJB Kurunegala District MP Nalin Bandara also addressed the press.