Odds & Ends

Security in House depends on TNA

With the recent air attack by the LTTE at the Katunayake air base, Minister Anura Bandaranaike has been ringing warning bells that such an attack may target Parliament as well.

He repeated this warning in Parliament on Thursday saying it is better to be an alarmist than sit and wait till an attack took place.

Turning to TNA Parliamentarians on the opposite side, Mr. Bandaranaike in lighter vein said if he walked in and did not see the TNA MPs he would run out.

Mr. Bandaranaike may have been joking when he mentioned the TNA, but Parliament security officials seem to be taking his remarks more seriously. Which is why last week, TNA MP M.K. Sivajilingam had to protest that when he attended Parliament he was harassed by security officials and sniffer dogs were used when he was entering the building. He wants the Speaker to look into the matter as it was breach of privileges as an MP.

Which president?

A group of scribes were travelling in a three wheeler in the Indian capital New Delhi on the eve of the SAARC conference when the driver asked which country they were from. When told Sri Lanka, the man asked if Chandrika Kumaratunga had come for the summit. When told she was no longer the president, he asked if it was Premadasa. The scribe had to disappoint the man once again and said the new President was Mahinda Rajapaksa and was in town to attend the SAARC summit

Privileges violated

TNA MP M.K. Sivajilingam has protested that when he attended Parliament last week he was harassed by security officials and sniffer dogs were used when he was entering the building. He wanted the Speaker to look into the matter saying his privileges as an MP had been violated.

Ignorance is bliss?

A group of scribes were travelling in a three-wheeler in the Indian capital New Delhi on the eve of the SAARC conference when the driver asked which country they were from. When told they were from Sri Lanka, the man asked if Chandrika Kumaratunga had come for the summit.

When told she was no longer the President, he asked if it was Premadasa. The scribe had to disappoint the man once again and say the new President was Mahinda Rajapaksa who was in town to attend the SAARC summit.