The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake
Hon. Bimal Rathnayake cited Standing Order 33(1) to argue that Supplementary Questions must remain within the scope of the original Question and that even the original questioner cannot go beyond it. He stated that another Member may ask a supplementary only with the original Member’s consent and subject to the Chair’s decision, and said the dispute could have been avoided if such courtesy had been observed.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Sir, there is no need even for a ruling. Standing Order 33(1) clearly states: “A Member may ask not more than two Supplementary Questions: Provided that such Supplementary Questions shall not bring in matter not included in the original Question...” According to this, even the original Member cannot ask Supplementary Questions outside the scope. Therefore, it is not applicable to another Member. If Hon. Ravi Karunanayake had, as a matter of courtesy, signalled to Hon. Ravindra Bandara, saying “May I ask the second Supplementary Question?”, none of this would have arisen. We cannot act arbitrarily here. I regret the slight on you, Sir. You read the Standing Orders to us before I spoke. After giving many Members a chance, I stood up. Do not twist this with cheap talk. It is clear: only the Member asking the original Question can ask Supplementaries; if he consents, another may ask, subject to your decision under the Standing Orders.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Thursday, 8 May 2025 ·No. 1748426168056758 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 8 May 2025. No. 1748426168056758. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/21840