What goes on in House appalls former Prime Minister

By Saman Indrajith

UNP leader and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament yesterday that he did not have much regrets about not getting elected to the House at the last general election, but was sad to observe what was being done by those who had been elected. He said so during an argument between the government and the Opposition on the matter of allocating time for the latter’s MPs to ask questions directly from the Prime Minister and on the suspension of sectoral oversight committees.

The UNP leader said that there were bright MPs in the back benches on both sides and they should be given more opportunities to be involved in parliamentary affairs. With such exposure and experience they would have a better future in politics and that would ultimately help change the prevailing political culture in the country, Wickremesinghe said, adding that there was a need for reintroducing the oversight system.

Leader of the House Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena in an equally terse rebuttal said: “Wickremesinghe wouldn’t have had to go home if he had implemented the proposals he made today during the time of his tenure as the Prime Minister. He had to go home because he failed to do what he proposed.”

The UNP leader: “I don’t regret going home, but I feel sad when looking at what the sitting MPs are doing today.”

The issue over the Prime Minister’s question session and suspension of the sectoral oversight committee was raised by SJB Matara District MP Buddhika Pathirana, who demanded to know why the PM’s question session was not held.

Minister Gunawardena assured that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was always ready to answer the questions raised by the MPs