SL Parliament to debate extending Emergency

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 January 2006, 15:51 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group is to meet Tuesday to prepare for a full debate on the extension of the State of Emergency following allegations that Emergency Regulations (ER) are being used by Sri Lankan police and armed forces to harass Tamil civilians, TNA sources said. The extension motion of the State of Emergency for another month is to be debated in parliament Thursday.

The State of Emergency was declared on 13 August last year soon after the murder of Mr.Lakshman Kadirgamar, former Foreign Minister.

The State of Emergency was extended by parliament thereafter every month with a debate and voting.

The extension motion was, however adopted without a debate and vote, last month, as TNA parliamentarians couldn't attend the parliament on the day of the debate due to an urgent meeting with Sri Lanka's President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse.