Parliament

Funeral blues hit Parliament
By Chandani Kirinde our lobby correspondent
A mock funeral procession was enacted in Parliament on Thursday, when Opposition legislators clad in black garb carried a mini coffin into the chambers of the House to protest against the recent killings of their party men and the LTTE's slaying of members of rival Tamil parties.

The solemn drama unfolded around 10 a.m. with Opposition members trooping into the chamber bearing a mini coffin of about two feet long, and placing it on the floor in the well of the House. Then began the last rites, with some delivering funeral orations and others including three women legislators wailing, seated in front of the open coffin.

Senior SLFP member D.M.Jayaratne administered "pansakula" while Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapakse delivered the funeral oration. Most of the wailing was left to three women legislators, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Somakumari Tennakoon and Sumedha Jayasena. Some of the members were seen using their high tech mobile phones to photograph the event.

However, the incident was not totally unexpected, coming just two weeks after Opposition members brought in a floral wreath into the House. The previous day there were warning signs that the Opposition was planning some kind of protest inside Parliament with Chief Government Whip Mahinda Samarasinghe informing Speaker Joseph Michael Perera that three MPs had brought in a bag into the Parliament building on Tuesday evening after sittings had adjourned and refused to allow the policemen on duty to search them.

They had then proceeded inside and come out minus the bag, Mr. Samarasinghe said.
Hence there was a sense of readiness among the security personnel as well as on the part of the government on Thursday.

The Speaker suspended the sessions for an hour just as sittings began after making a brief announcement that something important had been brought to his notice. He also asked all government MPs to vacate the chamber.

Almost immediately the coffin bearing MPs entered from the left side door of the Chambers, pushing aside a few staff members who were trying to prevent them from entering, while the few government members present left from their side of the House.
The Sergeant -at-Arms ordered the police to clear the public galleries, which were occupied by school children. Only the media were allowed to stay on.

The MPs continued their protest for nearly three hours during which time several meetings were held between party leaders and the Speaker in his office. At one point the lights of the Chamber were switched off to get the MPs to leave but they were switched on immediately after there were shouts of protests.

An attempt by several senior policemen to enter the Chamber was also thwarted by the legislators who shooed them away saying that while the Mace was in place, no one other than the legislators and staff assigned to the Chamber could enter.

After much persuading by several prominent members including Chief Opposition Whip Mangala Samaraweera, Anura Bandaranaike and Mahinda Rajapakse and many arguments between the protesting MPs themselves, they finally agreed to leave around 12.45 p.m. That was after they placed the coffin on the desk of the Interior Minister and howled out and cried.

A staff member grabbed the coffin from the table and ran out with it while members left the chamber. Some of the leading protestors included Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Dilan Perera, Thilina Bandara Tennakoon, C.B.Ratnayake, Jagath Pushpa-kumara, M.K.D.S. Gunawardena and Wijithamuni Soysa - all of the PA. JVP MPs supported the protest but were most of the time acting as onlookers than active participants.

Members of the TNA did not take part in the protest while EPDP members were not present. A few inquisitive government members dared to wonder into the Chambers, with Minister of Agricultural Technology and Crop Productivity Hemakumari Nanayakkara being one of them.

He was asked by his colleagues in the Opposition to join them in paying his last respects, but he chose not to do so and instead bowed and left the Chamber. Other government MPs were seen witnessing the events from vantage points, while some were seen peeping through the doors from time to time.

Sittings resumed around 1.00 p.m. at which time the Speaker announced the appointment of Priyanee Wijesekera as the new Secretary-General of Parliament and Dhammika Dasanayake as the Deputy Secretary General.

The House also debated and passed the Betting and Gaming (Amendment) Bill. Other bills that were passed were the Information Communication Technology Bill and the Common Amenities Board (Amendment) Bill.

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