Mr. Speaker (The Hon. Asoka Sapumal Ranwala)

¶ 01 The Parliament met at 9.30 a.m., the Hon. Asoka Sapumal Ranwala in the Chair.

¶ 02 Affirmation: Hon. Muhammathu Saali Naleem

¶ 03 The Hon. Muhammathu Saali Naleem made and subscribed the Affirmation required by Law; and signed the Book at the Table.

¶ 04 Message from the President

¶ 05 Public Security Proclamation

¶ 06 The following Message has been received by me from His Excellency the President:

¶ 07 President of Sri Lanka

¶ 08 My No.: Bde/Bdd/00/7/TX/3/01 15 November 2024

¶ 09 Hon. Asoka Sapumal Ranwala Speaker Parliament of Sri Lanka

¶ 10 Hon. Speaker, In terms of the powers vested in me by section 12 of the Public Security Ordinance (Chapter 40), and having considered the necessity of maintaining public order, I have, as set out in the First Schedule, called out the members of the Armed Forces to maintain public order in the areas specified in the Second Schedule.

¶ 11 Accordingly, in terms of section 2(3) read with section 21(2) of the said Ordinance, I hereby inform Parliament of the same.

¶ 12 President

¶ 13 Announcements

¶ 14 Speaker’s Certificate

¶ 15 In terms of Article 79 of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, I wish to inform the House that the Speaker of the Ninth Parliament endorsed the certificates on: - “National Minimum Wage of Employees (Amendment) Bill” on 11 September 2024; - “Recognition, Registration and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Bill” and - “Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill” on 13 September 2024.

¶ 16 Chief Opposition Whip

¶ 17 I wish to inform the House that Hon. Gayantha Karunatilleka, MP, has been appointed as the Chief Opposition Whip of the Tenth Parliament.

¶ 18 Panel of Chairs

¶ 19 In terms of Standing Order 143, I wish to inform Parliament that I have nominated the following Members to serve on the Panel of Chairs for the First Session of the Tenth Parliament: - Hon. Lakshman Nipuna Arachchi - Hon. Imran Maharoof - Hon. (Ms.) Kumari Wijerathna - Hon. Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam - Hon. (Dr.) Kaushalya Ariyaratne - Hon. (Senior Prof.) Sena Nanayakkara - Hon. Chanaka Madugoda - Hon. Sanjeewa Ranasinghe - Hon. Aravinda Senarath - Hon. Kithnan Selcharaj

¶ 20 Further, pursuant to the approval granted at the Party Leaders’ Meeting held on 25 November 2024 to establish a Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus for the Tenth Parliament, a meeting in this regard will be held today, Tuesday, 03 December 2024, at 2.00 p.m. at Committee Room No. 2-88. All women Members of Parliament are kindly invited to participate.

¶ 21 Auditor-General’s Report

¶ 22 In terms of Article 154(6) of the Constitution: - Report of the Auditor-General for the financial year 2016 – Part III, Chapter XX; - For 2018 – Part II, Chapter XLVII; - For 2019 – Part III, Chapter XXI and Part IX, Chapters 20 and 11; - For 2020 – Part IX, Chapter XLIV; - For 2021 – Part II, Chapters LV and LVI and Part IX, Chapter XLII; - For 2022 – Part II, Chapters LIV, LV and LVI and Part IX, Chapters XXXIX and 20; and - For 2023 – Part II, Chapters VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX and XX; Part III, Chapters III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X and XI; and Part IX, Chapters II, III, IV, V, VI, VII and IX, are laid on the Table.

¶ 23 Question put, and agreed to. Ordered that the Reports be printed.

¶ 24 In terms of section 36(1) of the National Audit Act, No. 19 of 2018, the Financial Statements of the National Audit Office for the year 2022 and the Report of the Independent Auditor thereon, submitted to me by the Auditor-General, are, in terms of section 36(3) of the said Act, laid before the House.

¶ 25 Further, I lay on the Table the Annual Report of the Auditor-General for the year 2023.

¶ 26 Papers Presented