Eran Wickramaratne, Member of Parliament of SJB, questioned the
Speaker by raising a question under the standing orders, whether the
Constitutional Assembly, which has been established as an independent
institution, has approved the rules for approving Bills adhering to proper
methods.
He also questioned whether the Secure Transactions Bill, which was taken
for debate in Parliament on Tuesday, was referred to the Consultative
Council (CC) of the concerned Ministry and received its approval.
In the recent past when Parliament hastily passed online security Act, there
was no required oversight committee report for it.
Therefore, this question is especially directed because when an act is passed, it should be done constitutionally and in accordance with standing orders, he said.
Wickramaratne added that the amendments to be brought to the Secured
Transactions Bill have not been submitted to the House so far.
The MP also questioned the Speaker about the functioning of the
Parliament's oversight committees.
In previous cases, the Constitutional Council had formulated rules with the
consent of all its members. But the gazette given to the members of this
assembly on 31st December 2023 and the gazette notification issued before
it mentions the rules and regulations but there is no mention that they were approved by the CC.
Have the rules published in that gazette been approved by the Constitutional Council ? When were they approved ? Did all the members agree in approving it ? If not all the members agreed, how many agreed? Who were the members who participated in the meeting at that time?
Wickramaratne said that he expects answers from the Speaker Mahinda
Yapa Abeywardene regarding the rules mentioned in the gazette published
at the end.
The Deputy Speaker, who was presiding over the House at that time, said
that these questions, raised according to the standing orders would be
forwarded to the Speaker and a quick reply would be given.