A lack of maturity and lost opportunities

Usual bickering over non issues and growing divide between political parties in Parliament

By Chandani Kirinde, Our LobbyCorrespondent

When Parliament met after the Sinhala and Tamil New year and Vesak recess, it was back to bickering over some usual issues or non issues in this instance. There was the routine extension of the emergency which passed off without too much incident. But there was a lot of huff and puff over a debate that had taken place in the British Parliament on the Sri Lanka situation and the controversial statement of a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian.

The JVP thought it was opportune to have a day-long debate on the debate that had taken place in the British Parliament on May 2nd and the motion moved by the Party’s group leader Wimal Weerawansa was intended mainly to tell the British Parliamentarians to mind their own business and not interfere in the internal affairs of this free, sovereign, independent and democratic nation.

“We have 225 MPs and countless elected representatives almost equivalent to the number of Gods that people worship (33 koti devatawan) and they are capable of minding our country’s affairs. We don’t need some British MPs to tell us how we should run our country,” the JVP MP said.

In his lengthy speech, giving inferences from history, going as far back as 1815, the coercion of the Kandyan kings to the signing of the Kandyan Convention, to their divide and rule polices, Mr. Weerwansa cast much of the blame for the present day unrest in the country on the discontent the colonists had sowed while ruling the nation.

The Rajapaksa Government’s handling of the peace process too was criticised by Mr. Weerawansa. “It is the President who went and met Prime Minister Tony Blair and asked him to assist us in solving the national problems. By doing this, you are encouraging unnecessary interference in our country’s affairs by foreign nations,” he said.

On the issue of foreign meddling in internal affairs of the county, the UNP and the Government too held the same view as the JVP but any similarity in their thinking ended there. UNP Colombo district MP Ravi Karunanayake said the UNP believed in friendly relations with all nations. “Some of the MPs who are criticising Britain praised the country when they banned the LTTE a few years ago. We have to look at this issue from all angles and not like ostriches with heads buried in the sand,” he said.

UNP Kandy district MP Lakshman Kiriella made a pertinent point when he said that one reason that the debate in the British Parliament heard more of pro LTTE views than the government’s view point was because the Sri Lanka High Commission in London had not canvassed sufficiently on behalf of the government. “Six years ago the UK banned the LTTE, but why are the polices changing now, that is what we need to understand,” Mr.Kiriella said.

Despite all the furore over the issue, when Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama spoke, he down played the issue saying that there were many parts in the debate that were favourable to the country. He said that no where in the debate did anyone speak in favour of lifting the ban on the LTTE and most of the MPs were also critical of the continuing acts of terrorism being perpetrated by the LTTE.
Mr. Bogollagama also said that Parliaments were the best judges of what they should discuss and that issue such as the Iraq war and the Palestine problem had been discussed in the Sri Lankan Parliament as well.

The other issue that caused much commotion in Parliament was a provocative statement by Jaffna district MP Selvarajah Kajendran who attempted to justify the LTTE air attacks saying that the LTTE ‘air force’ was set up only to protect the people of the north and east.This angered many MPs particularly the JVP and JHU MPs who asked for the expulsion of the TNA MP. He was asked to apologize to the House and withdraw the statement but all he said was he was sorry if he upset anyone’s feelings but there was no apology.

The JVP and several government members were unsatisfied with Mr. Kajendran’s statement arguing that he had violated the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution, the oath which all MPs take when elected to Parliament, not to in word or deed, support secession.
Chief Government Whip Jeyaraj Fernandopulle said some caution must be exercised so that there would be freedom to express views within Parliament. “If MPs are going to be punished for what they speak here, then we will be unable to express our views freely,” he warned.

Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara tried to side step the issue saying he would seek advice of the Attorney General on the issue and take appropriate action. However after the intervention of MP Wijedasa Rajapakse who said the Speaker need not delegate his responsibilities to the AG but must act on his own, the Speaker decided to act. First he gave Mr. Kajendran another opportunity to apologise and withdraw his statement but the TNA MP said he had already said what he wanted to say.

With intense pressure put on the Speaker to throw the MP out, Mr. Kajendran was suspended for a day and the TNA MP walked out of the Chamber only to return the next day clad in full black. The incident once again signalled the growing divide between political parties in Parliament. It is the ideal place to start a fruitful discussion given the fact that there is representation in the present legislature from all sides. But a lack of maturity and the eagerness to score political points is scuttling that opportunity.