Lanka House sessions cut to 2 days this week amid fuel supply crisis

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's parliament sessions will be restricted to two days this week instead of four days amid the current fuel supply crisis, the leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena said on Tuesday.
The island nation, home to around 22 million people, is currently facing its worst economic crisis in over 70 years. "In view of the current fuel supplies crisis we have decided to limit the parliamentary sessions for today and tomorrow," Gunawardena announced. When parliament met this morning, the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party and the Marxist National People's Power party said they were boycotting the sessions to protest the government's inaction to tackle the current economic crisis. SJB leader Sajith Premadasa said since the government lacked a strategy to tackle the crisis there was little use in spending time in the parliament. He said the fuel queues have lengthened since the new PM Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed in mid-May.
At the start of session, House speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene said the main opposition's proposal on the 21st amendment has been deemed to require a national referendum by the Supreme Court since most of its provisions are "inconsistent with the constitution". The Sri Lankan cabinet on Monday approved the 21st amendment to the constitution aimed at empowering parliament over the executive president.