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Wednesday, 28 November 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) parliamentarians yesterday said that they had decided to boycott Parliament until Speaker Karu Jayasuriya conducted Parliament in adherencewith Standing Orders and the Constitution.
However, the actions of the Speaker were stoutly defended by United National Party (UNP) members who insisted that he had held to the highest standards of ethics in discharging his duties. (AH)
The UPFA parliamentary group submitted a letter to Speaker Jayasuriya requesting him not to make the Hansard reports pertaining to Parliament sessions on 14, 15, 16, 19, 21 and 23 November public, claiming that the said reports were “not legally acceptable”. In the letter, the UPFA has stated that the sessions held on the specific dates were not held according to the Constitution and had violated the Standing Orders.
UPFA MP Dinesh Gunawardena, elaborating on the reasons behind the group’s decision to boycott, said: “We informed Mahinda Rajapaksa of our decision to boycott Parliament sessions until the Speaker operates under the Constitution and Standing Orders. Today also there was no Order Paper. The Speaker is acting of his own accord. This has now become a Sirikotha party meeting. Parliament now sits violating the Standing Orders. We are a group of MPs who refuse the Speaker’s erroneous decisions. We demand that he come back on the right track.”
Assuring the country that the UPFA parliamentary group had not violated the laws of the land or the Standing Orders during the recent chaos in Parliament, MP Gunawardena said: “Whatever party we are in, we have to act according to the Constitution. We shall not accept anything done violating the Constitution. The President has also informed the Speaker to act according to the Constitution and correct the resolutions passed against the lawful procedure. Parliament sits without Standing Orders or an Order Paper. There was no party leaders’ meeting as well. We cannot bow down to these actions. All these actions violate the Constitution and Standing Orders. Until the Speaker starts to act according to the Constitution we shall not participate in Parliament sessions.”
UPFA MP Nimal Siripala de Silva held that Parliament was not a place to act according to personal impulses and desires.
“There should be a ruling party and an opposition in the House. But the Speaker is only acting with the Opposition. There is no ruling party, Prime Minister or Cabinet present. So how come Parliament sits? Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has utterly destroyed Parliament traditions,” he said.
However, UNP lawmaker Eran Wickramaratne, drawing the House’s attention to the UPFA finding fault with Speaker Jayasuriya andboycottingParliament,held that it was an uncivilised and premature move.
“It is a day in which we have an awkward situation where a purported government in this country has actually decided not to attend Parliament. It is not unusual for oppositions across the world to sometimes boycott parliamentsbecause they have disagreements with the majority or the governments of the day. But you never get a situation where a party claiming to be a Government boycotts Parliament. This unusual situation shows this purported Government is an absolute sham because it is unable to prove through a majority that it is actually a government,” he said.
According to MP Wickramaratne, the history of Parliament democracy has shown that the job of the Speaker is a very difficult job.
“If you take British parliamentary history, normally the Speaker is accompanied by two MPs on the first day to the Speaker’s chair. It was a job or a responsibility that somebody took up reluctantly. If you look at British parliamentary history, many Speakers finally lost their lives because they had to stand up to the Executive or the King of the day. This tradition still continues in the British Parliament,” he added.
Drawing attention to the Sri Lanka Parliament, where the Speaker is also accompanied by two people to the Speaker’s chair after being appointed, he identified the job as a curse which no MP would prefer to take.
“This continues in our Parliament in a different way when two people accompany the Speaker to the Speaker’s chair. It is a job that many MPs would not envy. If you look at history it is a job that entails standing up to the Executive, whoever the Executive might be across the world. Parliament is supreme and independent from the Executive. This tradition will have to be maintained always.You have stood up to the Executive in the past and Parliament has been devalued for appointing a Government, unable for a month to prove its majority in the House. On 14 and 16 November a motion which was proposing that they have no confidence was proved and passed. The Standing Orders were suspended with a majority and this is not uncommon in Parliament,” added MP Wickramaratne while supporting Speaker Jayasuriya.
UNP MP S.M. Marikkar, raising a point of order, held that UPFA MP Udaya Gammanpila had threatened to arrest the Speaker under the charge of making fake documents.
“Gammanpila had accused the Speaker of making unauthorised changes to the Hansard. He had threatened to file charges against the Speaker under the penal code. We want an investigation into this allegation,” Marikkar said.
UNP MP Navin Dissanayake, addressing the House, held that the Speaker was the bravest lawmaker he has ever known.
“Speaker Jayasuriya’s recent conduct and how he withstood the enormous pressure proved that he was braver and more courageous than my late father Gamini Dissanayake and late Minister Lalith Athulathmudali who steadfastly fought for principles of democracy,” said MP Dissanayake.
Taking matters forward, the UPFA parliamentary group also announced its decision to boycott the sitting at a press conference held at the parliament complex yesterday.
Accordingly, the UPFA parliamentary group, now headed by MP Mahinda Rajapaksa, had met before, reaching the decision to boycott House sittings to force Speaker Jayasuriya to give rulings to suit their thinking. (AH)
