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Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker to Give Ruling on Prorogation
Sri Lanka's Parliament Speaker Anura Bandaranaike is to give a ruling on Saturday on whether or not to summon parliament next Monday which was requested by opposition party members.
The oppositions party members excluding the JVP or People's Liberation Front handed over a signed letter to Bandaranaike on Friday, requesting him to convene Parliament on Monday as scheduled.
The letter says that the prorogation of Parliament ordered by President Chandrika Kumaratunga was to avoid debating of the no- confidence motion when majority of 115 members had requested in writing to debate on it on July 18. Parliament is entitled to examine the validity of the president's order under the constitution, it added.
Bandaranaike told the opposition members while meeting them that he would examine the law and give a ruling on Saturday.
Kumaratunga suspended parliament for two months on Tuesday night in a surprise move and called for a referendum on a new constitution.
Her government lost its majority when its key ally the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress pulled out on June 20 following the dismissal of its leader Rauf Hakeem by Kumaratunga.
Two days later the main opposition United National Party submitted a no-confidence motion against the government, which has plunged the war-torn country into a political turmoil.
The president's move is widely seen as forestalling the adoption of the no-confidence motion in the Parliament and prevent the imminent downfall of her ruling coalition.
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