Speaker not yet signed RTI: Dinesh

Joint Opposition leader MP Dinesh Gunawardena today rejected Minister Gayantha Karunathilaka’s statement that the Speaker had placed his signature on the Right to Information (RTI) Bill allowing it to become the law.

Mass Media and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Gayantha Karunathilaka at the Cabinet news briefing on Tuesday said Speaker Karu Jayasuriya had signed the RTI Bill.

However, MP Gunawardena said today he called up relevant authorities on Wednesday morning twice and received confirmation that the Speaker had not placed his signature on the Bill.

“This is a false statement. The Speaker didn’t sign the Bill yet. We, the Joint Opposition submitted two amendments to the Bill and the Government too accepted that the proposed amendments should be included in the Bill. The Attorney General’s Department, Legal Draftsman’s Department and the Parliament Secretary General are still going through the amendments,” he said.

He said the amendments were submitted over a month ago, but no outcome had been generated so far.

The Bill was passed in Parliament on June 24 unanimously.

Parliament Secretary General earlier said they had faced difficulties in the wording of the amendments into legal format, resulting in the delays. (Lahiru Pothmulla)

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