President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has stated that there are no obstacles preventing Opposition parliamentarians from attending any committee meetings held in the Kurunegala district.

He made this remark during a discussion that arose at the Kurunegala District Committee meeting, after Parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekara questioned why Opposition MPs were not being invited to coordination committee sessions.

An official present at the meeting responded that no such situation existed and that all MPs had been given the opportunity to attend the meetings regularly convened in the district. However, despite given the invitations, they don’t attend the meeting, he said.

Jayasekara, however, alleged that this issue was not limited to Kurunegala and that similar concerns had emerged across the country. He said such a problem had not occurred previously, but that Opposition MPs were now being denied opportunities to participate in committee meetings.

Responding to the matter, President Dissanayake reiterated that there were no restrictions placed on Opposition MPs and added that it appeared the MPs themselves were not attending despite being given the opportunity.

He further noted that, if not, it should be verified whether there was an issue in the communication of notices to the MPs. He stressed that no Opposition MP had been denied access to committee sittings.

A special District Secretariat Committee meeting was held yesterday (7) at the Kurunegala District Secretariat under the President’s leadership to review the programmes underway to restore normalcy in the lives of residents affected by the disaster situation and to assess the progress of infrastructure development initiatives.

During the meeting, the President also inquired individually from the relevant institutions about the measures taken regarding highways, electricity, water supply, irrigation and telecommunications in the district.