A presidential visit, messages of sympathy to the Japanese people in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami and questions on Libya marked the proceedings when Parliament met last week.
The President’s visit on Tuesday came when the House had taken up for debate nine finance bills related to tax regulations which were proposed in the 2011 Budget. While the President received a rousing welcome from government members as he entered the chamber, the few opposition members present were so surprised by his visit that UNP National List MP Harsha De Silva who was on his feet and in the middle of a scathing attack on government policies, toned down his criticism following the entry of the President.
In fact he ended by thanking the President for being present in the House during his speech.
The President joined the debate in his capacity as the Minister of Finance and announced that legislation was being drafted to start the contributory pensions schemes for private sector employees as well as Sri Lankans employed overseas.
“The new law will establish a social system that will give the working class a permanent income for life following retirement,” he said.
Earlier External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris in a special statement to the House said the government was granting one million US dollars to the Japanese Ambassador as assistance as the country recovered from the deadly earthquake and tsunami. “We are confident the people of Japan will draw on their tremendous reserves of strength and courage as they have done in the past to overcome this calamity,” he said.
Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe too expressed his sympathy to the Japanese people and said the Sri Lankan people wished that they overcome the difficult times speedily.
The following day Minister Peiris was confronted with a more complex problem, this time when ruling party National List MP A.H.M.Azwer moved an adjournment motion condemning the US- led air attacks on Libya.
The motion was seconded by JHU MP Ven. Ellawala Medananda Thera who accused the US and the United Kingdom of violating international law by attempting to oust the leader of an independent nation by using force. “The air attacks on Libya are a clear violation of international laws. Civilians are being killed but we cannot hear any human rights organizations accusing them of rights violations or of committing war crimes,” he charged.
Several government ministers including Rauff Hakeem, D.E.W.Gunasekera, Tissa Vitharana and Vasudeva Nanayakkara too joined in the condemnation of the attacks on Libya. However Minister Peiris fell short of condemning the air attacks but went only as far as to say that the Sri Lanka government did not “approve” of the air attacks which were causing civilian deaths and were in violation of United Nations resolutions.
“A political dialogue must be started to settle the problems faced by Libya. The air attacks are a violation of the territorial integrity of an independent nation,” he said.
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