The Hon. G.G. Ponnambalam

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, you would recall that at the Party Leaders’ Meeting, a request was made whether the Vote on the 5th could be postponed, if necessary, to discuss the current tragic situation in the country and, particularly, to take policy decisions in Parliament. We asked the Government to allow three days, including today and tomorrow, for discussions. The Government said they cannot postpone the Vote on the 5th.

¶ 02 As my party leader and jointly with the Opposition, we agreed that if the Government insisted, the Vote would be taken on the 5th without a Debate. But we asked that the prevailing situation be discussed in Parliament today and tomorrow, or at least for the whole of today, due to serious shortcomings in how matters have been handled. For example, in the Northern Province, Jaffna was the least affected among its five districts, yet the disaster management meeting was held only in Jaffna. Officials from other districts attended unofficially. We requested time at least for today and tomorrow and agreed to pass the Budget without debate on the 5th. The Government refused and allowed only until 12.30 p.m. today. What is the point?

¶ 03 If the Government’s position is that MPs must be in their constituencies digging ditches, that is not our job. Our job is policy. After the tsunami, this is an unprecedented disaster; we must discuss policy here. We can delegate field tasks, but Parliament must deliberate. To limit discussion to 12.30 p.m. is unacceptable. You are shutting out Parliament and making our role irrelevant, hence the Opposition’s walkout. There was no agreement to limit debate to 12.30 p.m. We asked for the whole of today; you refused. We even agreed to pass all Heads on the 5th without debate; still, you did not allow Parliament to sit and discuss. This renders the Assembly irrelevant; there is no point in sitting further.