• Friday, March 29, 2024

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Sri Lanka new parliament set to open on Aug 20

By: Aswathy Nair

The inaugural session of Sri Lanka’s new Parliament will be held on August 20 during which President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will present the policy statement of his government for the next five years, it was announced on Sunday.

“The Secretary-General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake has informed all MPs to attend the first sitting of the 9th Parliament which is scheduled to commence at 9.30 am on 20th August 2020,” a statement said.

The new Parliament meets after the Sri Lanka People’s Party (SLPP) led by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his younger brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa registered a landslide victory in the August 5 general election, securing a two-thirds majority in the 225-member Parliament.

The SLPP government has 150 members in the House and the combined Opposition strength is limited to 75.

At the inaugural session, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is due to present his policy statement of his government for the next five years. President is not a member of Parliament but constitutionally allowed to attend sessions.

Commenting on the age of lawmakers, Neil Iddawela, the deputy Secretary-General of parliament, said, “There are five of them who are under 30 years of age; 21 of them are between 30 and 40 years of age; 60 are between 40 and 50; 54 of them are between 50 and 60 years; 9 are between 70 and 80 years and 3 of them are between 80 and 90 years”.

Out of the 225 elected members, 75 are newcomers. The women’s representation has dropped to 10 from the 13 in the previous assembly, officials added.

Two of the elected MPs are currently in jail. Both have sought permission to attend the inaugural session, officials said.

The inaugural session of Parliament was originally scheduled for May 14. However, the elections had to be postponed twice due to COVID-19.

The session will be held with strict COVID-19 health protocols.

Sri Lanka, one of the very few countries in Asia to hold a general election amidst the pandemic, has reported 2,890 coronavirus cases and 11 fatalities.

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