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Sparks in the House as Opposition comes alive by candlelight
View(s):Pavitra smiles, and seemingly passes the buck, while consumers roast, and Bills become law by the way
By Chandani Kirinde, Our Lobby Correspondent
The recent electricity price hike seems to have injected some life into the main opposition United National Party (UNP), that for too long, has been groping in the dark, trying to find its way as an effective opposition in Parliament.At least some members of the UNP managed to display their displeasure at the price hike, by voicing their opposition loud enough to bring sittings to an abrupt end on Tuesday, while on Wednesday, they held a candlelit vigil in the Chamber, which lasted about an hour.
Power hike gives rise to a charged atmosphere in parliament
Interestingly, UNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was absent during all the disruptions that took place, but a small group of UNP MPs and a few TNA members who joined them, managed to send out the message that the tariff hike was too much of a burden on the people.
Rumours, that UNP MPs had brought candles into the Chamber, soon after sittings began on Wednesday afternoon, led to proceedings being suspended for about an hour by Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody. It was only after UNP Kurunegela District MP Dayasiri Jayasekera proposed the name of another UNP MP Sujeewa Senasinghe to take the Speaker’s Chair, and an attempt made to put him on that seat, that sittings were resumed.
While proceedings continued without disruption initially, around 25 UNP MPs and a few TNA MPs managed to light the candles and walk with them into the Well of the House. The few Government members present at the time remained seated, but one person who was visibly irked by the Opposition action was UPFA MP Lohan Ratwatte who hurled several basic bottles of water at the Opposition legislators. At one point, Ratwatte and UNP Ratnapura District MP Ranjan Ramanayaka were close to blows, but intervention by other members prevented things from getting out of hand.
Many of the other Government members present sprang into action about half-an-hour after the protests began, when Minister Basil Rajapaksa walked into the Chamber, marched to the Well and demanded that the Opposition MPs “withdraw.” His attempt to bulldoze through the Opposition-led protests did not succeed, and it continued till the day’s proceedings ended.
Through all this, the new Power and Energy Minister Pavitra Wanniarachchi watched smilingly, seemingly unable to fathom the implications of the electricity price hike. Her statement to Parliament on Tuesday, in which she implied that her predecessor Minister Champika Ranawaka should take the blame for the electricity tariff revision, was also brought up by Opposition legislators. Ranawaka was not in the House during the discussions on the subject, but issued a statement denying he had made any such proposal, when he was the Power and Energy Minister, and said it was the Treasury Secretary who had suggested the revision. Like all other mess-ups involving the Government, passing the buck on this too, seems to have just begun.
Amidst all this confusion in the Chamber on Wednesday, Leader of the House Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva whose voice could barely be heard over all the shouting, said that, as the Opposition does not seem interested in debating the four Bills that are before the House, they should be put to a vote.
The Bills that were taken for debate were the Marriage Registration (Amendment) Bill, the Kandyan Marriage and Divorce (Amendment) Bill, the Muslim Marriage and Divorce (Amendment) Bill and the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill. All four bills are to give effect to the Budget proposals presented to Parliament last November.
The Bills were pushed through, despite strong protests from the two DNA MPs who were present at the time, Sunil Handunnetti and Vijitha Herath who even stood on their tables to draw the attention of the Chair. However, these were all ignored, as the Bills were put through the second and third readings and passed.
For now, the Government has managed to push through the legislation it wanted passed, but if the Opposition can manage to re-energize itself, at least, it will prevent the ruling party from walking all over the Opposition and paying scant regard for a different point of view.
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