The Hon. Chaminda Wijesiri

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, when you were in the Opposition, you spoke out strongly on this. Do not let what was unfair to you then be inflicted upon us now.

¶ 02 When asking Oral Questions, the opportunity to ask is given according to the order of questions on the Order Paper. The previous Government changed that. Be that as it may, today’s Order Paper shows more government MPs’ questions than Opposition MPs’ questions. Any MP should be able to ask questions; we do not oppose that. However, you fought against this unfairness when you were in the Opposition, and we supported you. Therefore, there should be fairness for Members asking questions. As it stands, there are more questions from Government Members and fewer from Opposition Members.

¶ 03 This has not been the historical practice. Historically, questions were taken in the order of precedence of submission. That was changed recently. We understand there is a system, but it appears parliamentary conventions are being broken. We should be able to speak on the country’s issues. Your concerns are fair; we do not criticize them. But we request you, Hon. Speaker, to ensure a fair procedure.