A widely reported reprimand by President Mahinda Rajapaksa appeared to have had little impact on the behaviour of controversial minister Mervyn Silva as was evident in Parliament last week. Barely 24 hours after the reported reprimand for assaulting a television journalist and grabbing his camera, the minister was back to what he knows best, interrupting and hurling abuse at his opponents in Parliament as a hapless Speaker W.J.M.Lokubandara did his best to rein him in.
Minister Silva’s unruly behaviour was on display on Thursday when he got embroiled in an argument with Colombo district UNP MP Ravi Karunanayaka during question time resulting in a free-for-all obscenities being hurled in the direction of the Opposition benches. They were later expunged by the Speaker after a reprimand.
It is obvious that any reprimand directed at Minister Silva just bounces off leaving little impact. Given the many times he has been called to order for speaking out of turn in the House, the Speaker who is solely entrusted with keeping order in the House should realize by now that unless firmer action is taken to stop disorderly behaviour in the Legislature, particularly by this member, not only would Parliament continue to become an object of ridicule among the people of this country. They will also question the role of the Chair for failing to act decisively when necessary.
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| The Speaker holds his head in disgust on Thursday |
The Speaker has often said he wants to act in a democratic manner in conducting proceedings in the Legislature. But at the same time he must remember he is bound to protect the rights of the members of all sides to be heard whether they be from the Government or Opposition.
Media Minister Anura Priyadhrshana Yapa, who presided at the cabinet press briefing on Thursday at the Parliament complex when queried about Minister Silva’s rampaging against journalists, said he was “ashamed” about the behaviour of his parliamentary colleague and would personally intervene to ensure that such attacks are brought to an end. Minister Maithripala Sirisena when questioned at a separate press briefing last week on the same subject said God will punish Minister Silva for his attacks on journalists. While some are awaiting divine intervention to put an end to the antics of Minister Mervyn Silva, if the Police Department does its job fearlessly, the wait would not be prolonged.
Meanwhile the issue of media freedom or the lack of it has now become synonymous with the name of Mervyn Silva the opposition has a lot of fodder to criticize the government on its inaction to deal with the issue.
Both UNP MP Lakshman Seneviratna and JVP MP Vijitha Herath spoke on their concern regarding continued attacks on media personnel and institutions. MP Herath said the JVP supported an extension of the emergency only for the government to wage war against the LTTE and not to clamp down on journalists and other democratic rights.
But government members last week were in no mood to listen to Opposition criticism as they were basking in the afterglow of the SAARC summit in Colombo. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama was particularly irked that the UNP in particular has not said one good word about the success of the SAARC summit but instead was dwelling on the “few shortcomings” that took place.
“We did not allow even a fly to sit on the Heads of State who were here for the summit. Our security was that good,” the minister boasted.
Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka who opened the debate on the extension of the emergency on Wednesday said that it was a tribute to the efforts of the security forces that the SAARC summit was concluded successfully.
He also told the House that in the past month 106 soldiers and 24 civilians were killed due to terrorist activities while another 660 soldiers and police personnel and 31 civilians were injured. |
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