Premalal Jayasekara's swearing in is a constitutional violation : Sajith

COLOMBO (News1st): The speaker's decision to allow Premalal Jayasekara, a death row convict, to take oaths as a parliamentarian, is a violation of the constitution, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa has said. "The decision that you made a few days ago was done in violation of Section 89 and 91 of the constitution," Premadasa said in Parliament on Friday. He recalled that former speaker Bakeer Markar had not allowed former parliamentarian Selvarajah Yogachandran, a death row convict, to enter Parliament in 1982. "Former Speaker Bakeer Markar set an important precedent under that policy," Premadasa pointed out. However, speaker Mahinda Yapa Abyeywardena said that Jayasekara was allowed to enter Parliament in keeping with a verdict issued by the court of appeal.