It was a week filled with poster holding opposition MPs bringing sittings to a stop for 40 minutes, the same legislators wanting an adjournment motion on the Oslo conference only to backdown later and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe making a statement to Parliament on the same issue.

When the Premier walked into the chamber on Friday morning, he was greeted by table thumping government members. Mr.Wickremesinghe then went onto make a five page statement in English on the Oslo peace support conference.

"For the first time the LTTE affirmed to the international community its commitment to find a negotiated solution to the ethnic conflict. This is a significant achievement," Mr.Wickremesinghe said.

Addressing a packed government side but half empty opposition benches, the Premier said that what was achieved at Oslo was to transfer the solution of the ethnic conflict and related issues from the battle field to the negotiating table. "Oslo is a significant step. That one step is enough for me," he said.

At the conclusion of his speech, JVP parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa rose to his feet amidst shouts of protests by government members. He managed to get himself heard and said they wanted a two day debate to comprehensively discuss the Prime Minister's statement as several important issues had been not addressed such as India's absence at the conference.

Leader of The House W.J.M.Lokubandara said that such a debate would be arranged after discussions at the next party leaders' conference.

The premier's statement came two days after opposition members launched a street-type poster holding, slogan shouting protest within the chambers of the House forcing the Deputy Chairman of Committee Siri Andrahennady to suspend sittings for 40 minutes.

The row erupted on Tuesday when the votes of the Justice, Law Reform and National Integration Ministry were taken up for debate. The JVP had asked for a division at voting time for this Ministry in view of the fact that the LTTE was opening courts in the east and the Justice Ministry had failed to stop this. The government side objected stating that sufficient notice had not been given and soon the situation turned into a shouting match between the two sides with the JVP and PA members unfurling several posters within the chambers.

"Sri Lanka is not the property of Ranil, Prabhakaran or Vidar Helgeson", "Traitorous government rest - in - peace" were some of the slogans written in bright red. Unable to control the commotion, the Deputy Chairman of Committee, who has had the task of running the business of the House thrust on him since Monday in the absence of Speaker Joseph Michael Perera who is indisposed, was forced to suspend sittings. Forty minutes later, a sobered set of opposition legislators strode into the Chambers and Mr. Andrahennady ordered the staff to remove the posters that were hanging over the tables of the MPs.

Dinesh Gunawardene, PA Colombo district law maker said that the LTTE opening up court houses in the east was posing a threat to the sovereignty of the country. "There cannot be two parallel legal systems existing in the country," he remarked.

Justice Minister Lokubandara assured the House that the government would not accept any other legal system and that there was only one valid legal system in the country.

There was more drama this time outside the chambers of the House. UNF Matale district MP Janaka Bandara Tennakoon gave notice of an adjournment motion to be taken up on Thursday on what transpired at the peace conference in Oslo. In view of the notice being given and a government decision to offer the opposition a two hour debate on the issue instead of the half an hour normally granted to adjournment questions, a motion suspending standing orders to continue sittings till eight on Thursday night had been included in the order paper of Parliament for the day.

However, when sittings began, the Leader of the House failed to move the motion. Later journalists were told that the Opposition had decided to withdraw the motion. One reason given at the party leaders' meeting was that Mr.Tennakoon was suffering from catarrh even though he spoke with robust on the votes of the Samurdhi Ministry that very morning. Later Chief opposition Whip Mangala Samaraweera told the House later that they did not want the half an hour debate because they wanted a two- day debate on the Prime Minister's statement.

"Our very existence as a unitary state is being threatened by the reckless adventurism of the Ranil Wickremesinghe government. It is a great farce to limit a debate of this nature to an hour," Mr.Samaraweera said.

Not to be outdone, the government side moved a similar adjournment motion on Friday evening making provision for an hour long debate. The motion was moved by Kandy district UNF MP Keheliya Rambukwella seeking official clarification for the varying newspaper reports that had appeared since the conclusion of the conference.

It was ironic that such a question was being asked at all as the very same morning the Prime Minister had told the House what transpired in Oslo which included a reference to his discussions with Anton Balasingham.

PA and JVP members seized on the opportunity to attack what they called attempts to control the media by threats and intimidation.

"The UNF's media mafia is at work. It is the UNF that is lying not Reuters," SLFP's Nimal Siripala Silva charged referring to government efforts to prove as incorrect a statement made by Dr.Balasingham that was filed by the Reuters News Agency and run in several local newspapers.

JVP Weerawansa too spoke on the same subject stating that it was not the job of the Prime Minister of the country to correct statements made by Dr. Balasingham but for the LTTE theoretician himself.

"Is the Prime Minster's media unit also the media unit of Dr.Balasingham? Is the Prime Minister his media co-ordinator?" he asked.

The PA and JVP accusations touched a raw nerve with TNA Trincomalee district legislator R.Sampanthan who made an emotional appeal to the two parties not to distort facts and look at the whole process with jaundiced eyes.

"The peace caravan will go on . Many will be barking and running behind it but the caravan will move on," he said.

Significantly none of the ministers who took part in the Oslo conference were present in the chamber to answer the query and it fell on Lands Minister Rajitha Senaratne to reply. As he rose to reply, the few PA and JVP members remaining in the House staged a walk out stating that the Minister answering was not competent to so. The minister spoke for the few minutes given to him stating that the Prime Minister had kept President Kumaratunga updated on the peace process and that she was happy with its progress.

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