The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, I rise on a matter of Privilege under the Parliament (Powers and Privileges) Act, read with Standing Order 118(2)(a), regarding a continuing obstruction to my duties due to unanswered questions to the Central Bank and other authorities on critical national matters, including cryptocurrency oversight, US dollar reserves, digital currency policy, Central Bank governance, legality of the 2022 debt standstill, the scope of the Supervision Division, reserve build-up transparency, and alleged financial irregularities extending across multiple banks and NBFIs. Despite their gravity, these questions remain unanswered in the House and Committees, reflecting a systemic failure of accountability. Supreme Court determinations affirm the duty of diligence and transparency. Withholding information undermines Parliamentary sovereignty and oversight under Article 148. I seek your ruling on: 1. Whether failure to answer these questions in a reasonable time constitutes a breach of Privilege. 2. Directions to ensure the Central Bank and public institutions provide timely, accurate, complete information to Parliament. 3. Referral to the Committee on Ethics and Privileges or other authority to inquire into obstruction of a Member’s duties and contempt of Parliament. 4. Whether this necessitates re-examining the one-sided “independence” imposed earlier without corresponding accountability.

¶ 02 Additionally, I inform the House that my social media byline has been misused to attack Hon. Lalkantha and others; I will lodge a police complaint as advised.