Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced that the Prisons Commissioner has been instructed to allow Ratnapura District MP Premalal Jayasekara, who was recently sentenced to death, to attend the Parliament sitting on the 8th of September.
He made this observation in response to a question raised by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Premanath C. Dolawatte as to why the convicted parliamentarian was not brought to the Parliament session on Friday (28).
MP Dolawatte requested the Speaker to make necessary arrangements to let MP Jayasekara to attend Parliament sittings, while pointing out that the convicted parliamentarian has filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal challenging the verdict.
Responding to this, the Speaker said he is yet to be officially informed of the appeal filed by MP Jayasekara. He, however, noted that not allowing the convicted MP to attend the Parliament sittings violates the rights of the voters who had cast their preference to Jayasekara.
Meanwhile, Minister Dinesh Gunawardena too raised a question about bringing MP Jayasekara to the Parliament sittings, when the Friday’s session was adjourned.
