All parties in Opposition will make a formal offer to the Government in the coming days that if Parliament is reconvened they will assist the Government to pass funds and laws they need to deal with the COVID-19 crisis as the country’s case load saw a sharp increase over the past five days.
Sumanthiran has called it a “historic pledge” by members of the opposition.
Former MP for the Tamil National Alliance and senior lawyer M.A. Sumanthiran told MTV’s Newsline programme that the opposition parties will give the Government an undertaking that they will not use their majority to oust the Government.
“We will not try to oust the Government. We will put our shoulder to the wheel and help the Government to get the necessary funds and enact laws to deal with the situation. Anything that the Parliament is authorized and empowered to do, we will do it as one country and not as opposition or Government,” Sumanthiran told Newsline.
The MPs will inform the Government that they will not take their salaries as parliamentarians, he added.
“We are working on this undertaking by members of the opposition” Sumanthiran revealed.
The offer would be specifically made to the Government and the country at large in the coming days, he said.