The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake
Hon. Ravi Karunanayake raised a point of order concerning the composition of parliamentary committees, arguing that established practice and references such as Erskine May should guide procedure where Standing Orders are silent. He stated that Opposition representation in relevant committees had historically not been significantly reduced and requested that the Opposition be given fair space, citing an ethical and moral obligation to maintain balanced committee membership.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Sir, I rise to a point of Order.
¶ 02 Hon. Speaker, it is not time-consuming; we are trying to make our point. There is the Standing Orders, and there is also established practice. That is what we are recalling. When no Standing Order applies, you must look at Erskine May or the Indian Parliament. According to Erskine May, public bill committees examine proposed legislation and are composed by the Committee of Selection, with the Government generally having a majority but the balance held by Crossbenchers. I have been here 28 years, across eight Parliaments. Only once has Opposition membership in relevant Committees been reduced by two or three. That is why we make this request. Please also recognize the ethical and moral obligation.
¶ 03 Sir, I rise to a point of Order.
¶ 04 Also, please give the Opposition an opportunity. We are not seeking argument, only fair space.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 5 February 2025 ·No. 1739175806099814 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 5 February 2025. No. 1739175806099814. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/26815