The Secretary-General

¶ 01 Hon. Members, I warmly welcome all of you who have been elected to the Tenth Parliament.

¶ 02 Hon. Members, arrangements have been made for simultaneous interpretation of today’s proceedings into the other two languages. You may use the headsets on your desks to listen in your preferred language.

¶ 03 I will now read to this august Assembly the Proclamations issued by His Excellency the President regarding the summoning of Parliament.

¶ 04 The Secretary-General read the following Proclamations of the President:

¶ 05 - Gazette Extraordinary No. 2403/13, dated Tuesday, September 24, 2024: - By virtue of Article 70 of the Constitution and Section 10 of the Parliamentary Elections Act, No. 1 of 1981, His Excellency Anura Kumara Dissanayake, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, proclaimed: (a) Parliament is dissolved with effect from midnight today and the new Parliament is summoned to meet on the Twenty First day of November, Two Thousand and Twenty Four. (b) The Fourteenth day of November, Two Thousand and Twenty Four is fixed as the date for the election of Members of Parliament. (c) The nomination period during which Returning Officers shall receive nomination papers is specified as beginning on the Fourth day of October, Two Thousand and Twenty Four and ending at Twelve Noon of the Eleventh day of October, Two Thousand and Twenty Four. (d) Each place mentioned in Column II of the Schedule is specified as the place of nomination for candidates seeking election in the electoral district mentioned in the corresponding entry in Column I of that Schedule. - By order of the Honourable President: Dr. N. S. Kumanayake, Secretary to the President. - Schedule (extract): - No. 01 — Colombo: District Secretariat, Colombo - No. 02 — Gampaha: District Secretariat, Gampaha - No. 03 — Kalutara: District Secretariat, Kalutara - No. 04 — Kandy: District Secretariat, Kandy - No. 05 — Matale: District Secretariat, Matale - No. 06 — Nuwara Eliya: District Secretariat, Nuwara Eliya - No. 07 — Galle: District Secretariat, Galle - No. 08 — Matara: District Secretariat, Matara - No. 09 — Hambantota: District Secretariat, Hambantota - No. 10 — Jaffna: District Secretariat, Jaffna - No. 11 — Vanni: District Secretariat, Vavuniya - No. 12 — Batticaloa: District Secretariat, Batticaloa - No. 13 — Digamadulla: District Secretariat, Ampara - No. 14 — Trincomalee: District Secretariat, Trincomalee - No. 15 — Kurunegala: District Secretariat, Kurunegala - No. 16 — Puttalam: District Secretariat, Puttalam - No. 17 — Anuradhapura: District Secretariat, Anuradhapura - No. 18 — Polonnaruwa: District Secretariat, Polonnaruwa - No. 19 — Badulla: District Secretariat, Badulla - No. 20 — Moneragala: District Secretariat, Moneragala - No. 21 — Ratnapura: District Secretariat, Ratnapura - No. 22 — Kegalle: District Secretariat, Kegalle

¶ 06 - Gazette Extraordinary No. 2410/02, dated Tuesday, November 12, 2024: - By virtue of Article 70 of the Constitution, I, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, do by this Proclamation summon Parliament to meet at the Chamber of Parliament, Sri Jayawardenepura, on the Twenty First day of November, Two Thousand and Twenty Four, at 10.00 a.m. - Given at Colombo on this 12th day of November, Two Thousand and Twenty Four. - By order of the Hon. President: Dr. N. S. Kumanayake, Secretary to the President. President’s Secretariat, Colombo 01. November 12th, 2024.

¶ 07 Hon. Members, the House must now proceed to the election of a Speaker. I invite a nomination from an Hon. Member.