PM agrees to accommodate JVP amendments

Depicting the Government's sincere commitment to uphold the dignity and decorum of the House, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday agreed to accommodate the JVP's amendments to the Office of the Missing Persons (OMP) Act, missed out during the Third Reading of the OMP Bill, due to the tense situation that prevailed in the well of the House as a result of a protest staged by the Joint Opposition (JO) members against the OMP Bill.

When the Bill was taken up for debate on August 11, the JO Parliamentarians fiercely opposed it, stating that the Bill was a move to 'witch-hunt the war heroes'.

JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake asked the Government to reveal its position on the amendments proposed by his party during the Third Reading of the debate on the OMP Bill which had not been included in the final Bill signed by the Speaker.

Intention

MP Dissanayake said one of the three amendments proposed by the JVP had not been accommodated as it was not read out at the Committee Stage. JVP MP Bimal Rathnayake who was in the Chamber to present the JVP amendments could not be given an opportunity by the Speaker due to the chaotic situation in the House.

Dissanayake said, those who gathered in the well of the House were not interested in the Bill, their intention was to deprive us of our right to participate in the debate.

We wanted to present the amendments, but the Chair could not follow the procedure due to the disturbances in the Chamber.

The JVP Leader queried from the Government whether the amendments proposed by them will be accommodated in the OMP Act. The Premier told the JVP the matter would be discussed with Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and all options available looked into, to incorporate their amendment. The Premier assured the House that if there is no other way to accommodate the amendments, the Government would bring in an Amendment Bill to the OMP Act.

Amendments

Meanwhile, Leader of the House and Highways and Higher Education Minister Lakshman Kiriella said, the OMP Bill would have to be tabled afresh in Parliament as it had been signed by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya without the amendments submitted by the JVP and other opposition parties.

Minister Kiriella also told the House, he would discuss with Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera the possibility of presenting the Bill again.

However, the Joint Opposition Leader Dinesh Gunawardena said, the JO too submitted 31 amendments to the OMP Bill and they don't know what happened to those amendments and added, they have stated many times that this Bill cannot be regarded as passed according to the provisions of the Standing Orders. MP Gunawardena reiterated that the OMP Bill is null and void.

UPFA Colombo District MP Wimal Weerawansa told the House that he asked for a division when the Bill was taken up in the House and the Speaker might not have heard it due to the uproar.

Missing

He said, the Bill was rushed through the House in an arbitrary manner and the end result was that it included only the amendments of the Government and overlooked those of the opposition.

The MP alleged that the OMP is not to ascertain the truth about those who had gone missing in the 1988-89 period, but a move to witch hunt war heroes. Minister Kiriella who countered the JO's argument said, the JO should have participated in the debate without disrupting the proceedings. The Bill was presented in the House on May 22. If the JO had any opposition to the Bill, they could have gone to court when the Bill was presented in the House on May 22.

UPFA Colombo District MP Udaya Gammanpila who joined the Second Reading debate of Registration of Deaths (Temporary Provisions) (Amendment) Bill said, the hidden motive of the Bill is to tarnish the image of the war heroes by issuing a certificate on missing persons.

Violence

He said they don't want to be a party to the conspiracy to bring war crime charges against the war heroes. MP Gammanpila said, the intention of the Bill is vicious and that it prefers to keep the wound forever without healing it.

TNA Jaffna District MP M.A. Sumanthiran said, thousands of citizens had died due to violence and it had become necessary to enable the surviving members of their families to get on with their lives. Therefore, the law had to be amended. He said, the certificate of absence was a mere acknowledgement by the Government that the person concerned was not around and added it did not exclude the right to have an inquiry into the fate of a missing person. Several people had obtained death certificates unwillingly.

A mechanism has been in place with regard to the missing persons and a new law too had been enacted. In view of that amendment, there was an option to accept a certificate of absence instead of a certificate of death.

Bond scam

A heated argument broke out between JVP MPs and Leader of the House Minister Lakshman Kiriella on the reports circulated in the media over the COPE investigations on the bond scam.

COPE Chairman Sunil Handunnetti told the House that a section of the media had quoted Minister Kiriella as saying that the statements made by the Central Bank officials to COPE on the bond scam had been contradictory.

MP Handunnetti said the Minister's statement was affecting the on-going investigations as well as the officials who gave evidence before the Committee.

Minister Kiriella said, he had requested that COPE sittings be made open to the media and added that there was no need to wait until the Standing Orders are revised as there is already provision in the Standing Orders which allows the Committee Chairman to invite outsiders to Committee sittings with the consent of the Speaker.

If the media is allowed to report COPE proceedings, false information will not be circulated.

MP Handunnetti said he had agreed with the Leader of the House to allow the media to report COPE sittings and requested the Speaker to remove the existing legal barriers.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya told Parliament that the proceedings of the Parliamentary Committees would be open to the media from September when the draft set of amendments to the Standing Orders would be adopted.

Health and Indigenous Medicine Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne told the House about the decision of his Ministry to bring down the prices of pharmaceuticals in the next two weeks.

Quality medicine

Responding to a question by JVP Kalutara District MP Dr Nalinda Jayatissa, the Minister said the prices of pharmaceuticals would be reduced by importing high quality medicine at affordable rates from countries such as Russia.

Minister Senaratne said, these initiatives are being taken in line with the policies of the late Senaka Bibile. He assured the House that similar measures would be taken with regard to the procurement of medical equipment as well.