1 October 2020 07:37 pm
While welcoming the government decision to bring in a new amendment to the 20th Amendment to the Constitution to allow the President’s and Prime Minister’s offices under the purview of the Auditor General, the main opposition SJB said it would have been possible to convert the proposed legislation into a meaningful one if it was allowed to be discussed by the relevant sectoral oversight committee.
Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella told a news conference that the 20th Amendment could have been subjected to a fruitful discussion if the government did not abolish the sectoral oversight committees. “Sectoral oversight committee were introduced by the Yahapalana government to allow effective discussions on legislation. Legislations were made more effective through this process in the past. This was because the discussions in the said committees were more cordial than usual debates in Parliament,” Mr. Kiriella said. (Yohan Perera)