Acting Secretary General of Parliament Ms. Kushani Rohanadheera stated that the President Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity of Minister of Finance, Economic Stability and National Policies is to present the inauguration speech of the second reading of the Appropriation (Amendment) Bill on August 30 th .
This decision was taken at the Committee on Parliamentary Business chaired by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament Hon. Ajith Rajapakse this morning (24) to discuss the business of parliament of the coming week.
Accordingly, on August 30 th , Parliament is scheduled to convene at 1:00 PM and the President is to present the second reading of the Appropriation (Amendment) Bill following which, the Parliament will be adjourned.
The debate on the second reading of the Appropriation (Amendment) Bill will be held on August 31 st and September 1 st from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm without lunch break. Furthermore, on September 2 nd from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm, the second reading of the Appropriation (Amendment) Bill will be debated, following which the Bill is scheduled to be passed after the committee stage and the third reading.
Three Regulations under the Foreign Exchange Act, a resolution under the Customs Ordinance and Orders under the Special Commodity Levy Act are also scheduled to be approved in Parliament on the same day.
On the 29 th (Monday), according to a motion brought by the opposition, the adjournment debate will be held from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm on “The difficulties faced by the General Public due to increase in the electricity Tariff by a large Proportion”.
The Leader of the House Minister Hon. (Dr.) Susil Premajayantha informed the committee that a special program to inform the government and opposition members about the current economic situation will be held on the 30 th from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm conducted by the Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe. The Leader of the House also stated that he expects the participation of all members of the government and the opposition.
Meanwhile, the Leader of the House said that by making an amendment to the Standing Orders, they will promptly appoint the Sectoral Oversight Committees. He also said that according to the President’s suggestion three more standing committees are expected to be established in order to strengthen the Parliamentary Committee system.
Also, a discussion was also held regarding the need to give fair time to the Members of Parliament who left the Government party and act independently during the parliamentary debates.
