Why wasn't the chief opposition whip present in parliament?: Sujeewa

8 December 2011 05:27 pm Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 25 Bookmark

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UNP Colombo District parliamentarian Sujeewa Senasinghe speaking to Daily Mirror online stated that the lack of UNP MPs today to speak in parliament was due to a clear lack of organisation and handing of responsibilities within the party.

Parliament was adjourned prior to its scheduled time due to the lack of speakers from the opposition with only sixty minutes out of the 165 minutes allocated to the opposition being used. The UNP had only two speakers in the form of Senasinghe and Dayasiri Jayasekara today. "Even the chief opposition whip of the party wasn't present today. I had prepared for my speech and there were a lot of facts that I couldn't put through due to the lack of time. I was told to take my seat midway during my speech and it was an important debate regarding the ministry of petroleum. I was very disappointed when I realised that there was no one else to speak apart from Mr. Jayasekara, and there was so much time that couldn't be made use of" he said.

Senasinghe went on to point out that if the Chief Opposition whip was present he could have allocated more time on behalf of those who were not present to Senasinghe."If the organiser was present in parliament, the time that wasn't used could have been allocated to the two of us, but much to my dismay even he wasn't in the house together with the listed speakers," Senasinghe said.

Speaking on the leadership tussle that is brewing within the party Senasinghe said that the majority of the country is looking forward to a change . "What the party needs is a change, in both attitude and conduct. The Sinhala voter base has kept dwindling and now its time for the party to undergo the change that this country deserves," he said. Speaking on the statement made by Chief Opposition whip John Amarathunge who stated that Karu Jayasuriya isn't suitable to lead the party at a press conference today, Senasinghe said "I respect Mr. Amarathunge as a part senior, but everyone knows he isn't leadership material, its wrong for him to say that Karu Jayasuriya isn't fit to lead the party. He seems to be the person who can unite all factions and move the party and the country forward," he said. (Hafeel Farisz)