The Sixth Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka will no doubt be remembered as one of the most tumultuous legislatures that the country has seen in its history of parliamentary democracy. Beginning with the divisive manner in which UNP MP W.J.M. Lokubandara was appointed Speaker in 2004, it has been confrontational politics from day one with hardly any consensus on any major issue.
The ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) won 105 seats in the 2004 April general election, eight short of the 113 members it needed for a simple majority in the House. But within months its ranks swelled, first with the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) members who contested on the UNP ticket joining the ruling party.
Many others followed suit with nine MPs of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) joining the government followed by a group of MPs from the UNP. Finally the breakaway faction of the JVP lead by Wimal Weerawansa too changed sides giving the government a comfortable majority in the House.
Some of the political crossovers witnessed in this Parliament seemed almost unimaginable at one time, particularly the decision by the once powerful Minister in President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Cabinet --MP Mangala Samaraweera-- along with the late MP Sripathy Sooriyaarachchi to leave the government and sit on the opposition side.
The other political shockwave created, was the breakaway of 12 members of the JVP led by the party’s once fiery Propaganda Secretary Wimal Weerawansa.
There was also a lot of gloom associated with this Parliament. Seven Parliamentarians were assassinated while serving as MPs. They included MPs Lakshman Kadirgamar, Joseph Parajasingham, Nadarajah Raviraj, T. Maheswaran, D.M. Dassanayaka, K. Sivanesan and Jeyraj Fernandopulle.
Several other MPs too passed away including parliamentarians Amarasiri Dodangoda, Sarath Ranawaka, Sripathy Sooriyaarachchi and Anwer Ismail. Former Speaker Anura Bandaranaike (Oct.2000 - Oct.2001) too passed away in March 2008 while serving as an MP.
Incidentally, he was the third former Speaker to pass away during the term of this Parliament with K.B. Ratnayaka (Aug. 1994 – Aug. 2000) passing away in May, 2004 and Stanley Tillekaratne (June, 1970 - May, 1977) in June, 2005.
There were also interesting new entrants to the House including Basil Rajapaksa and one time LTTE eastern commander Vinyagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna.
The Sixth parliament approved a total of 295 pieces of new legislation between 2004 April and February 2010, including private members bills. Significant among these was the new Companies Act, the Alcohol and Tobacco Authority Act as well as new legislation to deal with high tech crimes.
Notably the extension of the emergency became a monthly feature in the House since August 2005, when tough laws were introduced with the assassination of Lakshman Kadirgamar. The laws were further tightened over the years as government began its military offensive against the LTTE.
Some old practices were also discarded by this legislature, notable among these being the decision by Speaker Lokubandara to stop wearing the traditional garb of wig and cloak worn by previous speakers while presiding over sittings, while President Mahinda Rajapaksa who also functions as the Minister of Finance decided to discontinue the tradition of carrying s small briefcase tied with a ribbon to the Chamber containing the annual Budget Speech on budget day and instead choosing a paper file to carry the contents of the government’s annual economic plans.
Thirteen women MPs served in this legislature namely Sumedha Jayasena, Pavithra Wanniarachchi and Ferial Ashraff --who were also Ministers-- as well as Amara Piyaseeali Ratnayaka, Larinne Perera, Chandrani Bandara, Talata Atukorala, Sujatha Alahakoon, Anjan Umma, Pathmini Sithamparanathan, Thangeswari Kadiraman, Nirupama Rajapaksa and Renuka Herath.
The Sixth Parliament also saw the confirmation of Priyanee Wijesekera as the first woman Secretary General of Parliament even though she had functioned in an acting position prior to that while Farial Ashraff became the first Muslim woman parliamentarian in the country. |
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