MPs’ shocking dereliction of duty: 200 out of
225 missing
* Vote on Ocean University of Sri Lanka Bill
DEW says House workers have to go in search of MPs
August 28, 2014, 10:25 pm 
by Shamindra Ferdinando
Parliamentarians’ attendance has dropped sharply and Opposition members skip parliament even when important Bills were taken up.
About 200 members representing both the government and the Opposition were absent when the vote on the Ocean University of Sri Lanka Bill was taken up on August 20.
According to a statement issued by Youth Affairs and Skills Development Ministry shortly after Parliament adopted the Bill with 24 members (UPFA and UNP) voting for it and one (DNA MP) Ajith Kumara against.
A senior parliamentary official said that the majority of members had left Parliament because they believed there wouldn’t be a vote due to the Opposition, too, backing the Bill with amendments.
Galle District MP Ajith Kumara’s decision to call for a division took all by surprise, he said. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been a vote, he said.
Minister of Youth Affairs and Skills Development Dallas Alahapperuma presented the Bill in Parliament.
Both the DNA and TNA missed sittings. General Secretary of Communist Party and Senior Minister Dew Gunasekera told The Island that there had been a gradual decrease in members’ attendance over the past several years. That was due to failure on the part of relevant political parties to discipline their members, the veteran politician said.
Responding to a query, the minister said Parliament was now struggling to maintain quorum during sittings and meetings of consultative committees meetings and watchdog committees. Parliament employees had to go looking for members and request their presence at meetings, the outspoken minister said.
According to him, recently an adjournment debate on the External Affairs Ministry had to be stopped for want of quorum. He said that all political parties would have to adopt remedial measures without further delay to improve attendance as well as the quality of speeches. The parliament meets eight days a month.
Official sources said that parliamentary records showed a significant drop in attendance over the past few years.
