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SLMC Chairman and Leader of the Opposition in the Eastern Provincial Council Basheer Segu Dawood yesterday said that the minority community was in the dark on whether the Government had realized that the Local Authority (Special Provisions) Bill was detrimental to representation of minorities and withdrawn the Bill or made a tactical withdrawal for the time being.
The former Deputy Minister was referring to President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s decision to withdraw the Local Authority (Special Provisions) Bill which the Eastern Provincial Council was scheduled to continue debating today amidst stiff opposition from the Opposition members and sections of the ruling Party.
The Governor of the Eastern Province (Retd) Vice Admiral Mohan Wijewickreme yesterday was awaiting the letter from the Presidential Secretariat informing him of the Governments decision to withdraw the Bill which tops the day’s Agenda at today’s meeting.
Other matters coming up for discussion and debate later today include the Bill to establish a National Transport Authority for the Eastern Province tabled by the Provincial Minister for Education and Transport Wimalaweera Dissanayake.
The Government decision to withdraw the Bill will be conveyed to the Chairman (Speaker) of the Council M. Faiz and Chief Minister of the Eastern Province Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan by the Governors office, reliable sources in the Governors office said yesterday.
On the last date when the Local Authority (Special Provisions) Bill was taken up for debate a vote could not be taken and the debate was postponed for today.
Of the 20 party of the ruling members of the Eastern Provincial Council one member M. Faiz was nominated as the Speaker of the Council and of the 19 remaining members only 18 were present as one of the two vacancies in Bonus seats had not been filled as yet. The Opposition had 16 members following the resignation of the elected member of the SLMC V. Amirudeen as he found it difficult to function in dual roles. He is a senior lecturer of Political Science at the Peradeniya University.
