Absence of MPs an insult to Parliament: Ranil

COLOMBO (News 1st); The attendance of Parliamentarians had become a real problem and is an insult to the Parliament, alleges the Leader of the United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremesinghe. 

Responding to the Deputy Speaker, who stated that the Speaker of the National Assembly of Korea is visiting the Parliament, MP Wickremesinghe pointed out that rows upon rows of the Parliament remained empty.

Meanwhile, the Chief Opposition Whip, Lakshman Kiriella stated that other opposition parties than the SJB have complained that they were cut off from the debate on the throne speech, and the time granted for MP Ranil Wickremesinghe has been shortened, and mentioned that based on the seniority of the relevant MP, more time should be allocated for certain Parliamentarians.

However, Wickremesinghe responded stating that he is not concerned about the time allocated, and a separate discussion on the 

time constraints will be held.

Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, the Leader of the House stated that a special allocation of time has been granted to Party Leaders in standing orders, and upon agreement, however it has not been properly defined as of yet.