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Serjeant-at-Arms, Parliament police save the day for Parliamentary democracy
Friday could be considered the worst of days for Sri Lanka’s Parliament, but it was also a day when the mettle of Parliamentary officials were tested to the limit, as much as that of Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, in their efforts to ensure that Parliament sittings were conducted amidst all adversity .
UPFA MPs dismantling the Speaker's microphone
For Parliament’s Serjeant-at-Arms, Narendra Fernando, the Custodian of the ‘Mace’, which symbolises the authority of Parliament, it was a particularly challenging day to ensure that the Mace was brought into the Chamber and kept inside while the House was in session, while ensuring its safe passage, into and out of the Chamber of the Speaker of Parliament. This he successfully managed to do. Within less than 45 minutes, the Serjeant-at-Arms and his team laid out a plan and executed it successfully by ensuring that the Speaker and the Mace were brought into the Chamber in safety and taken out in the same manner.
Friday’s incidents were the culmination of the disorderly and rowdy incidents of the two preceding days in the Chamber. By then things had reached an uncontrollable point for the Speaker. MPs supporting former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had come into the Chamber at least half-an-hour before sittings were to commence at 1.30 p.m. Seated on the Chair was Puttalam District MP Arundika Fernando conducting a mock session of Parliament, as his Parliamentary colleagues stood on either side, with Ratnapura District MP Pavithra Wanniarachchi leading the chorus calling for the arrest of UNP Kalutara district MP Palitha Thevarapperuma for bringing a knife into the House the previous day.
In anticipation of more unruly scenes inside the Chamber, the Serjeant-at-Arms had ordered that all extra books, files, water bottles and any other unnecessary items inside the Chamber be removed that day, while MPs were subject to strict body checks prior to entering the Chamber, so as to ensure that no dangerous objects were smuggled inside. What was left on the Speaker’s table was a bound copy of Erskine May‘s Treatise on Parliamentary procedure, a copy of the Constitution and of Standing Orders.
Honourable MPs at war
The quorum bells began ringing 5 minutes prior to the time fixed for the commencement of sittings and continued for over 45 minutes, but as UPFA MPs continued to occupy the Speaker’s chair, it was impossible for the Speaker to come in and sit there. Colombo District National List MP Thilanga Sumapthipala, a former Deputy Speaker, stood by the main entrance door through which the Mace is carried inside, and attempts to bring in the Mace through this door would have, no doubt, been obstructed.
So, while the UPFA MPs were shouting themselves hoarse, the plans were drawn up to ensure that the House commences sittings, whatever the odds. First the Serjeant-at-Arms had sought permission from the Speaker to bring Police officers into the Chamber, to which he had agreed, as well as to conduct the proceedings in a makeshift location inside the Chamber. A team of 45 police personnel including five women police constables attached to the Parliament police were gathered and briefed on how operation “Enter the Chamber” was to be executed. SSP-in-Charge of the Parliament Police, Sarath Kumar, his predecessor in the post SSP Roshan Wijesinghe (now SSP Mt Lavinia Division), and Acting OIC Parliament Police Palitha Samarajeewa were in the team that planned the operation. The belts, badges and other paraphernalia on the uniforms of policemen who were to enter the Chamber were removed, as is done when Police enter the Parliament Chamber, so as to avoid injury in case of a brawl. An extra chair was brought into the Chamber for the Speaker, but was grabbed and taken away by Kurunegala district MP Johnston Fernando, only to be later flung at the policemen shielding the Speaker.
Friday's scenes in Parliament. Pix by Ishanka Sunimal
A chair used by the Parliament Chamber’s messengers was used as a substitute and a small table put in place to make up the ad hoc Speaker’s table. Three rings of Policemen shielded the Serjeant-at-Arms who was the first to enter the Chamber through the door on the side of the Opposition Lobby, with Mace in hand, followed by the Speaker. The dramatic scenes of the large number of policemen, arms interlocked, entering the Chamber, caught almost everyone by surprise. The Speaker was handed an FM microphone which had been made compatible with the Parliamentary Chamber’s audio system, so all MPs could hear him. He first announced that he had given permission for the Police to enter the Chamber and followed it up by calling on MP M.A. Sumanthiran to move the motion suspending Standing Orders, which was seconded by JVP MP Vijitha Herath. Then the Speaker called on JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake to move the amended ‘No-Confidence’ Motion (NCM) against Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government, and it was seconded by MP Vijitha Herath, as missiles in the form of books, files and other items flew in all directions. The copy of Erskine May that successive Speakers of the Sri Lanka Parliament have referred to over the years, was among the casualties in the hands of MPs turned hooligans.
Despite the relentless attacks on them, including having water mixed with chili powder thrown in their face, the ring formed by the policemen held strong till the conclusion of sittings which lasted less than 10 minutes. The Speaker put the NCM to the House and said a vote by name could be taken, but no one was listening. Then he put it to a voice vote and after MPs in the Opposition benches raised their hands shouting “Aye”, he announced the “Ayes’ have carried the Motion, as not a single “Nay” was heard from those opposed to it. The House was then adjourned till tomorrow.
in the same manner in which the Speaker entered the Chamber, he exited it surrounded by the Policemen. Once out in the Lobby, with UPFA MPs running to prevent the Speaker from going to his room, an alternative route was taken, and the Speaker accompanied by the Serjeant-at-Arms, moved to the ground floor room of the SSP-in-Charge of Parliament Police Sarath Kumar, where the Speaker removed his cloak and was escorted to his vehicle and dispatched home. It was after a wait of at least half-an-hour that the Mace was taken back to the safety of its cabinet.