MP says Attorney General was not asked for advice on Speaker motion

Kalutara MP Ajith P. Perera said no advice had yet been requested from the Attorney General about the opposition's no-confidence motion against the Speaker, despite government members saying that such advice was being sought.

Speaking in Parliament on 6 November, he challenged the suggestion that the views of private lawyers supportive of the government could be treated as the Attorney General's official legal advice.

His remarks drew a distinction between informal opinions obtained from individual lawyers and advice formally requested from the Attorney General. The opposition had submitted the motion against the Speaker, and the handling of that motion was the subject of the exchange.

Perera's statement concerned whether an official request for advice had been made. It did not amount to an announcement of a legal opinion from the Attorney General on the motion itself.