The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake

¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, firstly, Standing Orders 31, 32 and 33 deal with Questions. Standing Order 32(1) provides the procedure for oral questions—calling the Member whose name the question appears under, and that Member rises and asks the question. Standing Order 33(1) then, read with 32, confines the two supplementaries to “the Member” concerned with that question. By practice, the original Member may consent to another asking one of the supplementaries, but absent such consent, another Member cannot step in. Supplementaries must arise from the original question and answer; allowing an unknown second Member without the original’s consent risks departing from the scope. This also protects the rights of the Member who placed the original question. We should abide by the Standing Orders, and, where practice applies, by the Chair’s ruling.