Fonseka requests Speaker to restore MP's privileges stripped in 2010

United National Party (UNP) MP Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka today urged the Speaker to restore the MP’s rights and privileges that had been stripped of him after he was sentenced to prison by an “illegal” court marshal in 2010.

By Sandun Jayawardana

Raising a privilege issue in Parliament, the MP recalled that though he took oaths as an MP on April 22, 2010 after being elected to Parliament at the General Election held earlier that month, he subsequently lost his seat after he became an inmate at the Welikada Prison on September 30, 2010.

“When I lost my seat as an MP, I was also stripped of my MP’s salary and associated privileges including vehicle permit and my MP’s pension,” he added.

Asserting that he had been the victim of one of the most heinous acts of political revenge in recent times, Field Marshal Fonseka requested the Speaker to restore all his MP’s privileges that had been stripped from him following his prison sentence in 2010.

Deputy Speaker Ananda Kumarasiri said he would pass on the MP’s request to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, who will give his ruling on the issue.