The Hon. (Dr.) Nalinda Jayathissa - Minister of Health and Mass Media and Chief Government Whip

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, Parliament must be organized properly. Of all Committees, the Committee on Parliamentary Business is the most important. Under the Standing Orders, it comprised seven ex officio members and 12 nominated Members. While there is agreement to increase that number, the total would then become 23. For the orderly conduct of business, this number must be limited; in future there could be 15 or 20 Opposition parties. If we try to accommodate all, the Committee cannot function. We have already agreed to increase numbers in Ministerial Consultative Committees; that is fine. But the Parliamentary Business Committee must remain limited and structured. Hence, we agreed to increase to 16 Members; with ex officio Members, the total becomes 23. Let the Opposition fairly share their available slots.