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Business of Parliament |
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The business of
Parliament is conducted according to the
Standing Orders of the Parliament in the
following order:
- Official Oath or Affirmation by new
Member. (This is administered by the
Hon. Speaker of Parliament).
- Messages from the President
- Announcements by the Hon. Speaker.
- Presentation of Papers (This can be
done only by the Speaker, a Minister or
a Deputy Minister).
- Presentation of Reports from
Committees.
- Petitions
- Questions
- Votes of Condolence
- Motions of Leave of Absence
- Ministerial Statements
- Personal Explanations
- Questions of Privilege (An urgent
motion concerning the privileges of
Parliament takes Precedence over all
other motions and Orders of the Day and
proceedings may be interrupted at any
time for this purpose).
- Motions at the commencement of
Public Business not requiring notice.
- Motions at the commencement of
Public Business of which notice is
required.
- Public Business
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Parliamentary Sittings |
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| Under the Standing
Orders, Parliament meets on two alternate
weeks after the first and third Sunday of
each month on Tuesdays, Wednesdays,
Thursdays and Fridays. The National Flag is
flown at full mast on the Second Floor of
the Parliament Building facing the
Ceremonial Drive to signify that Parliament
is sitting. It the meeting goes on beyond 6
p.m. (which s considered standards sunset
time after which the National Flag is not
allowed to remain hoisted), a lantern, amber
in colour, atop the flagstaff shines in
place of the National Flag to indicate that
Parliament is still at work. |
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Parliament Secretariat |
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| The secretarial and
staff services necessary for the performance
of the functions of the Parliament under the
Constitution are provided by the Office of
the Secretary-General of Parliament. It
functions mainly under five departments,
viz., the Department of the
Sergeant-at-Arms, the Administration
Department, the Hansard Department, the Co-ordinating
Engineer's Department and the Catering
Department. The Secretary-General of
Parliament, who is the head of the permanent
staff of Parliament, is appointed by the
President and he (SGP) recruits his staff
with the approval of the Speaker. The
Secretary-General is assisted by a Deputy
and an Assistant. The total permanent staff
of Parliament is 730 as at 1997. There are
another 220 personnel servicing Parliament
in ancillary services including Electricity,
Telecommunications, Television, Water
Supply, Postal, Banking etc. The security of Parliament is determined by
the Security Council consisting of the
Speaker as Chairman and top officials of
Parliament, the Armed Forces and the Police.
Parliament has a Police Division headed by a
Senior Superintendent of Police.
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The Library |
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| Parliament has a
well-equipped Library which is exclusively
used by Members of Parliament. The stock
held by the Library includes books,
periodicals and newspapers of a general
nature and reference material in subject
areas such as legal, political, economic,
history and social sciences. The monograph
collection is nearly 12,000. Parliamentary
Debates, Legal Enactment, Acts & Bills of
Sri Lanka, Government Gazettes,
Parliamentary Series, Sessional Papers,
Administrative Reports and Annual Reports
are some of the documents in the preserved
collection. It also has a good collection of
very valuable rare books and documents on
Sri Lanka such as oaths/affirmations by
Members of Parliament, special commission
reports, etc. Thus the overall collection of
the Library is about 30,000 volumes. The
Library is automated. The Main computer
Server of the Local Area Network (LAN) for
the Parliament Complex is installed in the
Library. The Library has access to INTERNET
with an E-mail facility. Members of
Parliament collect their daily mail from the
Library. |
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Hansard |
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| Hansard is the official
printed verbatim record of the Parliamentary
proceedings including messages from the
President, the Speaker's Announcements,
Questions, etc. The speeches of Members of
Parliament are recorded in Hansard in the
language in which they are made. |
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Simultaneous Interpretation |
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| In accordance with the
Standing Orders, the Sitting of Parliament
may be conducted in all three languages,
viz., Sinhala, Tamil and English. To
facilitate Members who do not understand a
particular language, a speech made in that
language is simultaneously interpreted into
the other two languages. Thus Members enjoy
the privilege of listening to Parliamentary
speeches in the language of their choice.
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