Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena yesterday announced that no outsiders are allowed to enter the committee rooms without the permission of the Speaker during Parliamentary committee meetings, with immediate effect.
The Speaker, making a special announcement in Parliament yesterday, explained that only the Members of Parliament or non-member Parliamentarians who come with the formal permission of the chairman for the various committee meetings that are currently in operation in Parliament, officials of other external institutions who are called for the relevant committees and officers of the Parliamentary staff can participate in the committee meetings and no other persons are allowed to enter the committee rooms when the committee meetings are held.
In addition to this, he also stated that he has been informed on various occasions about the tendency of committee chairpersons to go beyond their scope of work in the committee.
The Speaker further emphasized that all the committee chairpersons are obliged to act in a manner that preserves the traditions and practices of the Parliament for a long time, according to the provisions of the Standing Orders of the Parliament.
In addition to the staff members of Parliament, if the chairpersons of the committee wish to obtain the services of any external person voluntarily or in any other way for the coordination and advisory functions of the committee, the prior written permission of the Speaker should be obtained.
Furthermore, the Speaker said that when summoning government officials from various ministries, departments, statutory or non-statutory institutions, the work of the committees should be conducted in a way that these officials are not inconvenienced.
He also emphasized the need to issue press releases only on matters approved by the committee in a balanced way that does not harm the honour of the Parliament.
The Speaker also said that when dealing with letters, only official letterheads with the name of the committee should be used and official letterheads of the committee should not be used for personal or political purposes under any circumstances.
In the same way, the Speaker emphasized in his announcement that all committee chairpersons should take care to act only in accordance with the methods that have been followed so far when submitting the reports to Parliament regarding the affairs of the committees.
Irangika Range