Speaker of the Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana has said that no parliamentary group can be considered “independent” until the relevant Parliamentarians resign from the respective political parties through which they were elected to Parliament.
Several MPs who were elected to Parliament from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) ticket have declared themselves to be “independent”
and formed parliamentary groups such as the Supreme Lanka Coalition and the Freedom People’s Alliance. They constantly claim to be subjected to various injustices such as insufficient time allocated to them during parliamentary sessions and the lack of opportunity to represent parliamentary committees.
When contacted by The Daily Morning to inquire about the matter, Speaker Abeywardana said that such groups cannot be considered “independent”. “They have all been elected to Parliament representing a political party. If so, they should resign from the relevant parties.”
More than 40 MPs who were elected to Parliament representing the SLPP informed Abeywardana on 5 April 2022 that they would function independently in Parliament henceforth.
Speaker explains ‘independence’ to Opp. groups
