The Hon. Faiszer Musthapha, PC

¶ 01 I did not appear in that case. However, I read the judgment.

¶ 02 Hon. Deputy Speaker,—

¶ 03 May I have a minute to answer?

¶ 04 Hon. Leader of the House, would you allow me an opportunity to respond on that?

¶ 05 Please, do not take this time from my speaking slot, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

¶ 06 Hon. Leader of the House, please listen to my answer. At the Provincial Council Elections, there was a delimitation. All I did was to table that Delimitation Commission Report in Parliament. But there was a vote among all Members to decide whether they agreed or disagreed with that Report. That was not a vote on a Bill. If Parliament had rejected that Delimitation Report, there was an appellate process regarding it. Therefore, your statement that I presented a Bill and then opposed it myself is incorrect. The reason is that the Delimitation Committee is appointed by His Excellency the President. This is something everyone says, not just you. Please do not take time from my slot, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

¶ 07 Hon. Leader of the House, I tabled an independent report. It was not a delimitation committee that I appointed. Anyone can say anything, but I acted in good faith. As a Member of Parliament, I had the right to oppose matters contained in that Report. I acted in accordance with that right; I did not oppose a Bill I myself had presented. Unfortunately, some have not understood the difference between an independent committee report on delimitation and a Bill. Therefore, please do not blame me for that.

¶ 08 May I now continue with my speech.

¶ 09 Hon. Deputy Speaker, yes, you may continue with your original submission.

¶ 10 But, please do not take that time from me, Sir.

¶ 11 We all are in agreement that there are issues with regard to this present electoral system: with regard to female representation, the number of wards and the proportion or the number of wards created according to the population. So, if we are to look at this progressively, in line with the Bill which has been brought before Parliament today, we have 90 days to bring in necessary amendments. Therefore, I appeal to the Government; I make this request from you. We must be progressive. Everyone accepts that there are shortcomings in the law which I introduced and was passed in 2004. But we all have a responsibility to correct those deficiencies. Hon. Minister, you have 90 days, in terms of this Bill you have introduced, to make any amendments. Therefore, we, in this House, need not beg anybody for further time to bring in any amendments. So, I am appealing to you,—

¶ 12 Hon. Deputy Minister, the Supreme Court had said "as soon as possible".

¶ 13 Hon. Deputy Minister, the Supreme Court had said as soon as possible, but here, you all have asked for 90 days. The Supreme Court Judgment had ordered to have it as soon as possible. But, you all, as the Government, have submitted a Bill seeking up to 90 days to submit fresh nomination papers. So, my request to you all, Hon. Deputy Minister, is, in line with the Bill you have brought in, to make the necessary amendments within those 90 days. No, I thank you. I am very confident that the Hon. Minister would take what I have said into consideration. I believe there is no need for confrontational politics. You all came to power to do the right thing. Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe, when you say you all want to do the right thing, I am confident that you all would consider what I have said. Once this Bill becomes law, it is totally your right to do what you all want. But, please hear out the voices of the Members of the Opposition. Nobody in this world knows everything. We also know some things. So therefore, take into consideration whatever we humbly tell you. Also, if you take the time frame of the election, the upcoming O/L Examination, the Sinhala New Year and all those other factors are there to be considered. But, I am not going to deal with those factors. You all have continuously mentioned that there are issues in this Act.

¶ 14 Hon. Deputy Speaker, your time is up.

¶ 15 Sir, I want another minute because my time was taken by the Hon. Bimal Rathnayake.

¶ 16 Okay, you can have that.

¶ 17 I will conclude, Sir.

¶ 18 So, I am only saying this. I appeal to the Government — you all have 90 days — please consider what I have said. It will be progressive to amend the Act.

¶ 19 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.