Parliament tells SLC bigwigs to go home

By Saman Indrajith

Parliament yesterday unanimously resolved to oust the incumbent office -bearers Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).At the end of the debate on a motion moved and seconded by both sides of the House, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena inquired whether it should be put to a vote.

However, since the MPs of both sides were in favour of the motion, there was no need for a vote to be taken.

The JVP-led NPP MPs were not present in the Chamber at the time. Its MP Vijitha Herath earlier in the day endorsed action taken by Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe to sack the incumbent officials of SLC.

Only 142 out of 225 MPs were present in the House. Of the 142 MPs, 83 were from the government ranks while 59 were from the opposition.

Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa told Parliament yesterday that (SLC) had placed itself above the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.

Moving a motion for a resolution seeking the expulsion of incumbent SLC administrators, Premadasa said that all 225 MPs must take the lead in a campaign to save the game of cricket from corrupt officials. “Time has come to stop the underworld, drug kingpins and cronies of politicians calling the shots at the SLC. We must establish a caucus of MPs in parliament only for cricket,” Premadasa said.

The resolution said: “That this Parliament resolves that the current officials including the Chairman of the corrupt Sri Lanka Cricket should resign forthwith, and that a new legislation should be passed as an Act of Parliament in view of maintaining a corruption-free and transparent cricket administration.”

Seconding the motion Ports and Aviation Services Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said that the officials of the SLC should step down as it was the public opinion. “Whether they are right or wrong, they should resign if the public opinion demands so. The SLC officials should understand that time has come for them to step down without further complicating the prevailing crisis,” the Minister said.

Chief Government Whip Urban Development and Housing Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said the debate would set an example for both government and the opposition to work together to find solutions to national problems. “In the same manner we could come together and work for the benefit of this country. We thank the Leader of the Opposition for moving this motion in a manner that we all could join in this effort,” the minister said.

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said that the Cabinet Subcommittee was ready to work in cooperation with the Sports minister to cleanse Sri Lanka cricket. The Cabinet subcommittee is not there for the purposes of selecting the coaches or players.