Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Kavinda Jayawardena apologized in Parliament for not voting in favour of passing the Online Safety Bill (OSB).

“I personally saw it as an important Bill, but it was depicted as a demon. Recently, I spoke to an official at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to lodge a complaint regarding a defamatory statement. I asked if the complaint could be lodged under the OSB.”

MP Jayawardena said that the official questioned him about his vote against the Bill in response.

“I felt embarrassed. We were shown that the OSB would hurt our democratic and political rights. We were told that our statements online would be used to imprison us,” he said.

MP Jayawardena also mentioned that the CID official informed him that the members of the Online Safety Commission had not yet been appointed, urging the government to make the necessary appointments promptly.

“I regret voting against this Bill, and I apologize for my vote,” the MP said. (Newswire)

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Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Sarath Fonseka strongly criticized his party leader Sajith Premadasa, stating that Fonseka’s request to speak in Parliament had been rejected by the Chief Opposition Whip.

“I made the request to speak three days ago and was informed that instructions had been given to prevent me from making any speeches. I was asked if I would work for Sajith Premadasa in the Presidential Election,” Fonseka said.

“I am the public representative who earned the second-highest number of votes in the Opposition. I received 113,000 votes, while the person who rejected my request only got around 70,000 votes,” he added.

MP Fonseka also requested the Speaker to introduce a mechanism to ensure equal opportunities for opposition members to address Parliament. “Only one man in the opposition speaks everyday for 30 or 40 minutes,” he noted. (Newswire)

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Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Mayantha Dissanayake has been appointed as the Nuwara Eliya District Leader and Nuwara Eliya Organizer by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa.

Addressing a media briefing, Dissanayake said that he withdrew from politics in the Kandy district at the request of the party leadership and will now focus on the needs of the estate sector in his new role. (Newswire)

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