Due to a heated situation during the inaugural general meeting of the Colombo Municipal Council, Mayor Vrai Balthazar adjourned the meeting for 10 minutes.
This situation arose after opposition members alleged that legal procedures had been violated in issuing the agenda.
Samagi Jana Balawegaya Municipal Councilor Roy Bogahawatte raised a question and said that although the agenda of the general meeting should be sent to the members 4 days in advance according to the Municipal Council Ordinance, the agenda of this meeting was received just before the meeting began.
He publicly questioned the Mayor and the Colombo Municipal Council Commissioner Palitha Nanayakkara about this being an illegal act. In response, the Mayor and the Municipal Commissioner admitted that this was a mistake and that they would take care to avoid such mistakes in the future.
However, Samagi Jana Balawegaya Municipal Councilor Mahendra Silva expressed his displeasure over the appointment of standing committees at this meeting. He was of the opinion that if standing committees were appointed on such an illegal agenda, those meetings would also be illegal. Accordingly, he said that the meeting should be adjourned and convened on another day.
Mayor Hemantha Kumara stated that the meeting could be adjourned for ten or fifteen minutes and resumed. Acting on this proposal, Mayor Vrai Kele Balthazar left, stating that the meeting would be adjourned for ten minutes.