Standing Orders don’t permit Speaker to order vote recount – Opposition

Chief Opposition Whip and Kandy District SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella says that once a vote was taken in Parliament and its results were announced by the Chair, that matter was considered over as per the Parliament’s Standing Orders and there was no provision for a vote recount.

Addressing the media online, MP Kiriella said that he had heard that the Speaker was planning to go for a recount of the votes cast for and against the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill on Thursday (20) in Parliament. “This is shocking news. As per the Standing Orders, once the vote is taken and its results are announced it is over and there cannot be a recount. Parliament Standing Orders do not permit the Speaker to go for a recount after the results are announced. I have been in this Parliament for 32 years, and have not heard of any precedence similar to this. The vote taken on the Bill proved that the government does not have a two-third majority in Parliament. Having failed to muster a special majority for the Bill, the government is pressureing the Speaker to go for a recount as a face-saving exercise. We call on the Speaker not to give in to government pressure. He is not the speaker of the government but the Speaker of Parliament. He is bound to uphold the dignity and supremacy of Parliament.

‘Instead of worrying about its two-thirds majority, the government should worry about the pandemic situation and the plight of the people, especially the vulnerable sections of society badly hit by the ongoing lockdowns.

Meanwhile, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena in a statement said he had received a complaint that two votes had not been counted and investigations were going on to figure out what had happened.

The investigations would be held on the basis of two written requests by Justice Minister Ali Sabry and General Secretary of the SLPP and MP Sagara Kariyawasam that votes of two MPs of the SLPP had not been counted at the final vote on the Bill. Therefore, a technical investigation would be held to find out whether there was a mishap in the electronic voting system in the Chamber. The Speaker said he had instructed the Secretary to the Ministry of Information Technology Jayantha de Silva to conduct the technical investigation and submit a report. In addition there would be a separate investigation by former Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Kithulegoda to examine the entire counting process and to provide a report on the matter, the statement said, adding that action would be taken to ensure that there would be no similar occurrences in vote taking processes in the Chamber.