The fall out from the cancellation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s speech to the Oxford Union in London was most vociferous within the precincts of Sri Lanka’s Parliament in Kotte with government legislators turning their anger on UNP Gampaha district MP Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena accusing him of being responsible in some way for the situation.
Ruling party members led by Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardena turned their ire on the UNP MP on Thursday morning after Mr. Gunawardena having read out a statement issued by the President regarding the cancellation of his speech called MP.Jayawardena a “traitor”. The Chief Whip also accused the UNP MP of being present at a pro LTTE / anti government protest near the Heathrow Airport in London on the day President Rajapaksa arrived there.
These accusations led to unruly scenes in the floor of the House with several government MPs hurling abuses and rushing towards the UNP MP seated in the front row of the opposition benches. Attempts by MP Jayewardena to explain himself by producing his passport as proof that he was not in London on November 29-- the day of the protest--proved futile with little support for him from many of the UNP MPs present.
The large number of schoolchildren and visitors to the public galleries had to be rushed out to prevent them from witnessing the unruly scenes, while repeated attempts by Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa to restore some semblance of order also failed. Eventually sittings were suspended for ten minutes but the suspension lasted nearly 45 minutes.
Amidst this melee Chief Opposition Whip John Amaratunga said the UNP regretted the decision by the Oxford Union to cancel the President’s speech saying he was the “President of the entire country and not one party.”
There was a tense situation when Parliament met the following morning too with the Speaker expressing regret over the previous day’s incidents and asking MPs to co-operate to maintain discipline and decorum in the House.
He also decided to allow Mr. Jayewardena to make an explanatory statement in the House with regard to his London visit, after Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe along with UNP deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya met the Speaker in his Chambers armed with Dr, Jayawardena’s passport to prove that he had not been in Britain on the day of the protest.
As expected, when the UNP MP got up to speak, there was jeering from government backbenchers but a stern warning from the Speaker that if they did not want to listen, they could leave the Chamber quietened things down. However, Deputy Minister of Health Lalith Dissanayaka who chose not to keep silent accused the UNP MP of acting against the interests of the country, before walking out. The Speaker threatened to suspend him for a week if he continued to disobey rulings from the Chair.
The Speaker also came down hard on UPFA National List MP A.H.M.Azwer by stopping him from raising a Point of Order after MP Jayewardena had spoken. The Speaker’s tough stance won him applause from UNP members but did not go down well with many government legislators including the Chief Whip who spoke after MP Jayewardena. “We will speak in defence of our country even if we have to leave the Chamber. We will expose the traitors,” he said.
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Jayawardena |
MP Jayewardena’s statement sounded more like a lament for sympathy --speaking of the mental trauma caused to him by the harassment and intimidation he had been subjected to by government members both inside and outside the Chambers and denied he had taken part in “any protests near the Heathrow Airport on November 29.”
However he remained silent on charges levelled at him that he had acted in violation of the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution by supporting a group of persons espousing separatism while abroad. While government members showed little sympathy to him, the UNP Leader was firmly on his side stating that his party did not accept the charges against the doctor turned politician.
Political bickering aside, it was refreshing to see the Speaker determined to protect the right of members on all sides of the House and maintain order even though it meant displeasing the government side.
Such a stance by the Speaker could help improve in the eyes of the public the image of parliamentarians that has dropped to dismal levels given the frequent ugly scenes in the previous Parliament.The Jayewardena episode aside, rumblings grew between the government and the opposition over the appointment of ten senior ministers by the President with the UNP claiming that they had been appointed contrary to provisions in the Constitution.
The Opposition Leader questioned how the senior ministers were expected to function as secretaries to them had not been appointed.“Now we hear the government is planning to set up a separate secretariat for them. They can name it “Vishramapaya”, he suggested tongue in cheek.
Leader of the House Nimal Siripala De Silva said that the senior ministers had been assigned duties and functions and the secretaries would be named later.
Meanwhile the Government last Monday breezed through the vote on the second Reading of the Budget Appropriation Bill securing 150 votes as against 46 by the combined UNP/DNA opposition. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) abstained from voting.
The Committee stage debate on the Budget began on Tuesday and will continue till December 10. |
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