One could say the inaugural session of the seventh Parliament of Sri Lanka kicked off on a positive note given the smooth manner in which the proceedings of the House were conducted on Thursday, This was in sharp contrast to the dramatic scenes that took place in the Legislature exactly six years ago, when an Opposition candidate was appointed the Speaker of the House.
While the joint Opposition at that time managed to get a majority in the House, this time round a depleted Opposition had little choice but to go along with the wishes of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) choices for the posts of Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chairman of Committees.
Hence, in a rare show of unity, all parties in the Opposition including the United National Party (UNP), the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) and the Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) supported the appointment of Chamal Rajapaksa as the new Speaker, Priyankara Jayaratna as Deputy Speaker and a new entrant to Parliament - Jaffna district UPFA member Chandrakumar Murugesu to the post of Deputy Chairman of Committees.
The name of the Speaker was proposed by Prime Minister D.M.Jayaratna and seconded by UNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya, while the Deputy Speaker’s name was proposed by former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka and seconded by UNP MP John Amaratunga. The third name was proposed by former Leader of the House Nimal Siripala De Silva and seconded by Douglas Devananda.
Premier Jayaratna and UNP MP Jayasuriya jointly walked the new Speaker to his Chair amidst applause from MPs on all sides of the House.
While the nitty gritty of the first sitting of inaugural session includes the making of these appointments as well as the swearing in of the elected members, the real buzz was about some of the controversial and colourful personalities that had secured a seat in the 225-member House.
With days of speculation about whether former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka who is in detention, facing two court martial inquiries would be allowed to come to Parliament to take his oaths, his arrival was the most anticipated. And when he walked into the Chamber, flanked by JVP heavy weights Anura Kumara Dissanayaka and Vijtha Herath, he lost no time in grabbing the attention of the large number of media personnel present in the galleries as well as fellow MPs.
Another person who got a lot of attention from government MPs was Namal Rajapaksa, son of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Namal entered the Chamber clad in national suit with the signatory “sataka” draped around his shoulder, accompanied by Uncle Basil Rajapaksa.
While Shiranthi Rajapaksa watched the proceedings from the Speaker’s gallery along with family members of many of the newly elected MPs, President Rajapaksa chose to observe the proceedings from the official’s box.
Others who had made a name for themselves before entering politics including actresses Malani Fonseka and Upeksha Swarnamali, cricketer Sanath Jayasuirya, actor Ranjan Ramanayaka, former Mrs. World Rosy Senanayaka, were among the first time entrants to Parliament.
 |
| Centre of attention of Govt. MPs: Namal Rajapaksa with the trademark sataka |
Also present was UNP Puttalam dsitrct MP Palitha Range Bandara who was injured in an attack by a political opponent and came with a sling on his hand and heavily plastered while another jailed UNP member Palitha Kumara Thewarapperuma was brought to Parliament in a prison vehicle to take his oaths.
Prime Minister D.M.Jayaratna led the House in congratulating the new Speaker and expressed the hope that the Government and Opposition would continue to co-operate in conducting the business of the House, during its six year term. “If we can work together in similar manner on other issues as well, we can work for the downtrodden masses of this country,” the Prime Minster said.
UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who was named the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament said the consensus between all parties on the appointment of the Speaker augurs well for the country and urged Mr. Rajapaksa to ensure that the rights of MPs on both sides of the House are protected equally.
He quoted the words of a former Speaker in the House of Commons William Lenthall who famously said: " I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here," during an incident in 1642, when the ruler at the time King Charles I had entered the House to search for and arrest five members of the Legislature and asked the Speaker if he knew where these members were.
“The Speaker of Parliament is expected to act impartially while occupying this high position. You are not the Speaker of only the ruling party, but the defender of the privileges of all the MPs of this House now,” the Opposition Leader said.
ITAK leader R. Sampanthan said the House has shown faith in Chamal Rajapaksa by unanimously appointing him Speaker and hence he must ensure that the rights of all communities too are protected. “A 30 year old war is over and this Parliament has the chance to discuss the issues that could not be addressed in the previous Legislature,” he said.
Retried General Sarath Fonseka who spoke on behalf of the DNA congratulated the new Speaker and urged him to safeguard the rights of everyone.” The task of safeguarding democracy must start here in Parliament,” he said.
Several other Party leaders too joined in to congratulate the new Speaker and the newly appointed Prime Minister, but Nuwara Eliya district MP Palani Digambaram who contested on the UNP ticket exposed the first in-party rift by saying he had been betrayed by the UNP which had promised his Party a slot from the national list seat but had not done so and hence would extend his support to the Government.
He may have been the only one to voice his displeasure about the national list seat allocations, but NFF leader Wimal Weerawansa, by choosing to remain silent and forego the chance to congratulate the new Speaker, seems to have used silence to convey his displeasure at the non inclusion of two members of his party from the UPFA list.
With the cracks already beginning to appear, the “feel good factor” experienced on the first day of sittings in the new Parliament is unlikely to last long. With the Government scheduled to present a mini Budget shortly, the confrontations may be just getting started.
All eyes on the General
After 75 days in near solitary confinement, detained former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka who was elected as an MP from the Colombo district from the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) was brought to Parliament under heavy military escort by the military Police, to take his oaths.
He was dropped off at the member’s entrance of the Parliamentary complex where he was greeted by other DNA frontliners including MPs Anura Dissanayaka, Vijitha Herath, Sunil Handunnetti, Arjuna Ranatunga, Tiran Alles and Ajith Kumara after which they escorted him to the Chamber.
 |
| A smile from Gen. Fonseka |
Inside the building, Fonseka was assured his freedom of movement with only the presence of members of the Parliament police.
All eyes were on Fonseka when he entered the Chamber and he was seen waving to the public galleries before taking a seat in the front row on the opposition side of the House. He was assured a front row seat in his capacity as the DNA leader.
The retired General got the opportunity to make his maiden speech in the Legislature as well. While congratulating the new Speaker he also drew attention to what he termed as “injustices” caused to him.
“The people’s rights including the right of equality before the law, their freedom of expression, the right to hold different political opinions and the right to be free from unlawful detention must be safeguarded. I too am a victim of unlawful detention,” he said.
While the proceedings of the House lasted from 8.45 a.m. to around 10.15 a.m. afterwards, the DNA Leader spent several hours in the Parliament building talking to fellow MPs and members of the Parliament staff, giving telephone interviews to journalists as well as enjoying lunch with his wife Anoma and the other members of the DNA at the guests’ dining room there.
General Fonseka described himself as a “political prisoner” and said he was being kept without access to newspapers except the state owned ones, television or even a pen.
“The government wants to keep me away from the people but the people have kept faith in me and voted me to office. While thanking the people who voted for my party, I must also thank the millions who did not exercise their vote at the General Elections. This was a mark of protest by them,” he said.
The retried General also said he did not expect justice from the two Court Martial inquires being conducted against him as he was not being given a fair hearing.
The DNA members also held a meeting to discuss their future programme in Parliament after sitting recommences on May 4, coincidentally, the day fixed for the next hearing of the Court Martial inquiry against Mr.Fonseka. |
E-mail