Sri Lankan PM Wickremesinghe seeks full report of attack on 'Gota Go Gama' from IGP

Colombo [Sri Lanka], May 17 : The newly-appointed Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, on Tuesday, sought a report on the attack on the Gota Go Gama protestors from the country's Inspector General of Police.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, who extended his support to the protestors of Gota Go Gama today, in the first parliamentary meeting under the new Prime minister, explained that he has requested a full report from the IGP on the attack on the Gota Go Gama protesters.
In order to protect the Gota Go Gama, PM recently appointed a committee comprising the Mayor of Colombo to get the assistance of the Colombo Municipal Council and said that he entrusted the Sri Lankan State Minister of Defense and Deputy Leader of the UNP, Ruwan Wijewardena with the responsibility to give protection to the protest site at Galle Face area, which has been renamed by the protesters, Colombo Page reported.
Meanwhile, as Sri Lanka's parliament reconvened today for the first time under the new PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, several decisions were taken in the allocation of seats for the Members of Parliament.
Wickremesinghe, who has been sitting in the Opposition until now, took the Prime Minister's seat in the parliament today.
The post of the deputy speaker which was vacant with the resignation of Ranjith Siyambalapitiya was also decided upon.
Ajith Rajapakse, Hambanthota District parliamentarian of the ruling party Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) was elected as the new Deputy Speaker of Parliament. He was elected with a majority of 31 votes in a secret ballot held this morning in the House.
The report said that Ajith Rajapakse was nominated for the post of Deputy Speaker by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna while MP Rohini Kumari Wijeratne was nominated by the Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Party.
PM Wickremesinghe, speaking at the meeting, said that it was he who first recommended that a female MP be nominated to the post of Deputy Speaker, and had requested the Parliament come to a unanimous decision.
Referring to the Parliament's decision on the no-trust motion against the President in the parliament today, the PM said that he has not attended either the Opposition Parliamentary Group meeting or the Parliamentary Group Meeting, he is still seated in the middle.
He claimed that the Opposition chose the wrong strategy and proceeded to move a vote to suspend standing orders.
He further requested that a new Code of Conduct and a Parliamentary Standards Act be presented. If this is not done so, he said that the confrontational culture of Parliament will not change and by the next time MPs will not be allowed to attend the Parliament.
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence with food and fuel shortages, soaring prices, and power cuts affecting a large number of the citizens. The economic situation led to huge protests with demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, with the former finally succumbing to public pressure and stepping down from his position as the Sri Lankan Prime Minister.
Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed the Sri Lankan Prime Minister for a record sixth term. He has given his assurance to the people of Sri Lanka that he will ensure the supply of petrol, diesel, and electricity to the island country.