New parliament to debate extension motion of Emergency on May 4

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 April 2010, 08:57 GMT]
The newly formed United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government is to table a motion seeking the extension of the State of Emergency for another month when the parliament meets on May 4. Mr. D. M. Jayaratne, the new Prime Minister, will move the motion as his first official duty amid reports in political circles that the new government is contemplating to relax the imposition of emergency regulations in some areas, parliamentary sources said.

The State of Emergency is in force in the country since August 12, 2005 and is being extended every month by the parliament on a motion moved by the government.

Hitherto Ratnasiri Wickremanayake had moved the motion to extend the emergency in parliament after he assumed the post of Prime Minister following the election of Mahinda Rajapakse as the Executive President.