The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, it is necessary to raise this question today. Regarding the Vote on Account, there are several matters that we in this Parliament have already approved. There is a law—the Public Finance Management Act, No. 44 of 2024—which we passed on the 8th of last August. It is under that Act that the Vote on Account is to be brought. When bringing this now in contravention of that, those of us who raised our hands for that law are obliged to speak about it. I acknowledge that there can be emergencies—that is a separate matter. What I need to raise is this: for so long, Votes on Account were brought as one pleased. That is exactly why Parliament, knowing it was wrong, passed, in due form, the Public Finance Management Act, No. 44 of 2024.

¶ 02 The Hon. Prime Minister is bringing this Vote on Account under Article 150(2) of the Constitution. Then it is stated “in conformity with section 23(1) of the Public Finance Management Act, No. 44 of 2024.” From that alone it is clear that we must read section 23 of that Act. Section 23 very clearly provides that an Appropriation Bill must be presented; only if it is not passed can we proceed to the subsequent steps. I can also read Article 150(2) of the Constitution if needed. We have no issue with that. This is an emergency matter for the Government—we understand that. But the issue is that, when there is an Act in force, we should not continue otherwise. I could not raise this at the Party Leaders’ Meeting because I was not present, Hon. Leader of the House. Therefore, as a Member of Parliament, there is a breach of my privilege. Because the Hon. Prime Minister tables this Vote on Account expressly under Article 150(2) of the Constitution and then says it is in conformity with section 23(1) of the Public Finance Management Act, it is evident that section 23 must be read. Section 23 clearly states that an Appropriation Bill must be presented, and only upon its not being passed can we proceed further. I am not raising this to obstruct this task. We have repeatedly seen such matters in this House and have spoken against them.

¶ 03 In the past in this Parliament, Hon. Anura Dissanayake, Hon. Harini Amarasuriya, Hon. Vijitha Herath and others have debated these issues until conflicts arose. You may proceed, but what I say is—