Opposition gearing up to bring in no faith motion against incumbent Speaker?

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana   

The main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) is contemplating taking action against incumbent Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne for his alleged failure to heed its request to increase the opposition representation in parliamentary committees and to come up with a proper seating arrangement in the chamber,   
MP Ajith P. Perera told journalists in Parliament that he and a few others in the opposition including Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa met the Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne and made these requests but the former did not respond to their requests in a positive manner.   

Premadasa, MP Perera, Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Chief Opposition Whip Gayantha Karunathilaka, Dayasiri Jayasekera and J. C. Alawathuwala met the Speaker yesterday and had requested him to increase the opposition representation in committees. “Speaker did not respond to us and when we referred the matter to the committee of selections we did not get any positive result from that as well. Then we decided to take a tough action against the Speaker, “ MP Perera said.   

However, he did not say that a no faith motion would be brought in against the Speaker but the only action available for the opposition is to bring in such a motion.   

Meanwhile MP Madduma Bandara told Daily Mirror that he will hold a press conference and reveal all details on the issue including the action that is to be taken against the incumbent Speaker.   

The opposition was up in arms in Parliament over the government’s attempt to diminish its role in the parliamentary affairs by reducing its numbers in committees including the Business Committee of the House which is the body that comprises representatives from the parties across the divide and discuss businesses of the House.  

An argument was witnessed in Parliament in December last year as well when the ruling party refused to include representatives of all the opposition parties in the committee, despite repeated requests by the minor parties to include them by increasing slots.   

The ruling party argued that it is not practical to accommodate all opposition parties and insisted that it is the duty of the opposition leader to mete out justice to all opposition parties by dividing the four slots allocated among 12 opposition parties of the business committee in particular.   
Leader of the House Bimal Ratnayake said on that occasion that every opposition party cannot be represented in the business committee. 

“You don’t get 50 to 100 members in decision-making bodies in various organizations. Do you get 50 to 100 persons on boards of directors in a company?” he questioned   

Ratnayake then revealed that the opposition parties have been given increased opportunities in other important committees. “We have decided to give the opportunity for the opposition to head the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and we will allow the opposition to head the Committee on Public Finance as per the standing orders. In addition, we have increased the number of opposition members in the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE),” he said.