Parliament

More shouting and protesting lead to more suspensions
By Chandani Kirinde, Our Lobby Correspondent
The suspension of Parliament sittings, now a regular feature disrupted sessions this week too. The unruly behaviour by MPs on both sides of the House forced a visibly angry Speaker to suspend sittings on two days, while the House had to adjourn on another day in the middle of an opposition led protest that saw them walking into the well of the House.

The first day of sittings on Tuesday got off to a stormy start with both the Chief Government Whip Mahinda Samarasinghe and Parliamentary Affairs Minister A.H.M.Azwer saying that lockers of six opposition MPs could not be searched during a strict security check of Parliament the previous day as the members had taken the duplicate keys with them.

They alleged that this was a serious matter and requested the Speaker to suspend the House and have the lockers searched immediately. Although the Speaker initially said he would have the search conducted while sittings were in progress, he later decided to suspend sittings.

The second suspension took place on Friday as a fallout of what transpired the previous evening when JVP MP Wimal Weerawansa moved an adjournment motion seeking clarification from the government about the granting of an interim administration for the north and east to be controlled by the LTTE.

Soon after Mr.Weerawansa began speaking, all government legislators left the Chamber except for the Parliamentary Affairs Minister who stayed behind to reply to the adjournment question. After several opposition members had spoken and Mr.Azwer stood to reply, about 30 JVP and PA members who were present walked to the well of the House shouting in protest that no responsible government minister dealing with the relevant subject was present in the House to provide answers to an important subject.
On Friday, Mr.Awzer raised a matter of privilege saying that opposition MPs had threatened him inside the chamber and behaved like hooligans. This led to heated arguments between the JVP MPs and Mr.Azwer at which point the Speaker had to suspend sittings.

Before the suspension Leader of the House W.J.M.Lokubandara informed Parliament that the government members were attending a hurriedly summoned Parliamentary Group meeting and that was the reason for none of them being present when the adjournment motion was taken up.

But this was the second successive day that the minister's dealing with the relevant subjects that were raised, were absent from the Chamber. This was in contrast to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who made it a point to be present himself to answer an oral question raised by PA national list MP Ronnie De Mel on the setting up of a cricket academy for the country.

When the question came up on Wednesday, the Government Whip informed the House the Premier would come the next day and answer it himself which he did. Unfortunately, the setting up of an interim administration did not draw the same enthusiasm from the government side.

Tuesday saw an opposition sponsored adjournment debate on the deteriorating security situation in the country but even opposition MPs seem to have run out of new ideas to speak on. They harped on the killings of the military intelligence men and members of Tamil political parties allegedly by the LTTE and also the killings of several PA supporters in the south.

Gampaha district MP Anura Bandaranaike who spoke on the motion said the country was facing the worst breakdown in law and order since independence and the government's lackadaisical approach was the main reason for the deteriorating situation.

Mr.Bandaranaike also expressed concern regarding the breaches of security in parliament and requested the Speaker to ensure that all necessary steps were taken to strengthen security. "I am not for a moment endorsing or not endorsing bringing of a coffin or wreath into the House. They are harmless political acts but something much smaller and more dangerous could be brought into the House," he warned.

Samurdhi Minister R.A.D.Sirisena who opened the debate on behalf of the government said his party has decided to deal strictly with any of its members if they were involved in illegal activities as was evident by the setting up of a disciplinary sub committee during the party's convention in Embilipitiya. The rest of his speech was devoted to reminding the JVP of its dark past of the early 70's and late '80s.

Former policeman turned politician Trincomalee district MP M.K.D.S.Guawardena took the time to speak on behalf of the injustices that were being caused to those serving in the police force in the country and urged the "Polisiya bara amathithuma" Interior Minister John Amaratunga to consider a special pay raise for them.

"If a patient is to be cured then the doctor must be looked after first. It's the same thing with fighting crime. Those who tackle crime must be treated well if they are to fight crime efficiently," he said.

JVP's Wimal Weerawansa said the government was trying to make the JVPers look like monsters although prior to the last elections the UNP had made several overtures to the JVP to join them.

"Today the government's main job is giving security to the LTTE. There is "koti" terrorism in the north and east and "kola" terrorism" in the rest of the country," he said.
Nadarajah Mathanarajah EPDP Jaffna district MP praised the TULF leader Anandasangaree for having the backbone to stand upto pressure from the LTTE to step down from the leadership of the TULF and refusing to state that the LTTE was the sole representative of the Tamils.

Defence Minister Marapanaadmitted that the killing of military intelligence men was mainly the work of the LTTE and said that the government had taken up the matter with the SLMM and the LTTE. He said although some of the culprits involved in killings outside the north-east had been apprehended, in the north-east, people were still afraid to come forward and give evidence.

The Minister said plans had been drawn up to safeguard the intelligence officers but they would not be sent abroad as they were needed here.

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