JVP faults Speaker, PM for Parliament upheaval

• Says Speaker should have ensured report was tabled as was decided at party leaders’ meeting on previous day

-Says Speaker should have postponed Parliament sittings since he was aware report could not be tabled

By Skandha Gunasekara

Referring to the fracas that erupted in Parliament yesterday, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) accused the Speaker and Prime Minister of setting the stage for the brawl which occurred.

Addressing a media briefing within the parliamentary complex soon after the House had adjourned, JVP Parliamentarian Vijitha Herath said that Speaker Karu Jayasuriya should have postponed the sitting to a different date if he was aware that the bond report could not be tabled instead creating a platform for Prime Minister Wickremesinghe to make a statement. 

“At the party leaders’ meeting held on 9 January, the Government promised to table the Bond Commission Report and 34 reports prepared by the Special Presidential Commission appointed to probe major cases of corruption on Wednesday morning. But they failed to do so. Instead, the PM tried to use this parliamentary session as an opportunity to make a statement.

“If the PM and the Speaker knew the reports would not be presented today (10), they should have postponed the parliamentary session. We did not come to listen to the statements of the PM. Therefore, both of them should take responsibility for the unnecessary situation which erupted in the Chamber,” Herath said.

He then asserted that the President should have sent both the bond report and the PRECIFAC report to Parliament as Parliament had powers over the country’s finances and was above the Cabinet and the Judiciary. 

“He should present the report to Parliament on time. However, he also failed in his responsibility. The Bond Commission Report is not an Act or a Gazette notification. Therefore, it is unnecessary to present the report to the Cabinet. Instead of doing so, the Government should present it to the Parliament as the citizenry has a right to know about the contents of the report,” he said.