Thursday’s (April 6) adjournment debate on UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka was cancelled as the Joint Opposition (JO) continuously disrupted the sittings demanding more time for them to participate in the debate. The drama enacted by the JO front liners in the well of the House ensued heated arguments between the Government and the JO over the time allocation, which finally led to abruptly suspend sessions, just 55 minutes after resumption.
Consensus
JO Leader Dinesh Gunawardena who was scheduled to move the Adjournment Motion on behalf of the JO first pointed out that it was unfair to allocate 31 minutes to the JO from the 210 minute long debate, and queried how could it be justified when 52 MPs are in the JO. He drew the attention of the Speaker, and stated, the MP who moves the motion should be given priority and sufficient time to speak on the issue, which he described as crucial and have serious consequences on the country’s future.
MP Gunawardena demanded that he be given at least one hour to present the motion. As a remedy, the Speaker informed MP Gunawardena that there are additional 34 minutes and the JO can take that time, because arguing on the issue would waste more time. However, the issue dragged on for 55 minutes without reaching a consensus, and JO members continuously agitating for more time.
Leader of the House and Higher Education and Highways Minister, Lakshman Kiriella told the vociferous JO members they would have easily sorted out the matter if they had met their Party Leader President Maithripala Sirisena. Minister Kiriella said they can fix an appointment on behalf of the JO so that they could present their issue to the President and he would sort it out.
The Chief Opposition Whip, Anura Kumara Dissanayake who maintained a completely different view said, Parliament has nothing to do with regard to the issue raised by the JO and that it has arisen due to an internal problem of the UPFA. Dissanayake pointed out, the UPFA faction in the Opposition cannot be officially considered as a separate group in Parliament.
He said, if the MPs in the JO decide to break away from the Government and sit in the Opposition, they are ready to offer them the Opposition Leader’s post. Responding to MP Dissanayake’s comment, MP Gunawardena said, when a group of UPFA MPs are in Government ranks, 52 UPFA MPs are in the Opposition.
War heroes
Despite repeated calls by the Speaker to commence the debate, the JO members were seen repeatedly expressing their views on the same issue. UPFA Colombo District MP Bandula Gunawardena told the Speaker, of the 210 minutes allocated, JO should be given at least 100 minutes, and added that they are the people who speak for the war heroes and on behalf of the country.
UNP Colombo District MP S.M. Marikkar who expressed his displeasure over this statement said, it is aimed at defaming them. Marikkar alleged, MP Gunawardena in his speech attempted to project those in the Government as a group who do not care for the war heroes and the country’s interests. Therefore, MP Marikkar demanded that MP Gunawardena should withdraw his statement.
As the JO members continuously demanded more time and didn’t cooperate to commence the debate, the Speaker informed them they should resolve the matter within their party.
The Speaker said he has no right to interfere in internal party issues and that Party leaders should come to an agreement.
He noted that time is allocated for the Government and the Opposition, and he has been given a letter by the UPFA General Secretary and that he acts according to that letter.
MP Gunawardena said that Lilliputians have been given time, but the Speaker told him time was allocated to the JO with the approval of the UPFA.
The Speaker told the vociferous JO members that although he tried his best to hold the debate, they do not cooperate, and wasted over 20 minutes, arguing on the same matter. At that point, Minister Kiriella proposed the Speaker to adjourn the House.
Once the House was adjourned, several JO front liners, Dullas Alahapperuma, Namal Rajapaksa and Jayantha Samaraweera accompanied by JO Leader Dinesh Gunawardena made a surprise visit to the Parliament press room and spoke to the media about the decision to abruptly suspend sittings. MP Gunawardena told the journalists, the JO is the only group in Parliament which speaks against the Geneva resolution because all others speak in favour of it.
Goliath
“ That is why I said the Speaker cannot recognize Lilliputians when Goliath is rising from the Opposition. We are the Goliath, we have 52 MPs in the JO. [sic] Therefore, 16 TNA MPs and 5 JVP MPs in the Opposition can’t be the Goliath.
This is something that we learnt in the kindergarten.” JO front liner Dullas Alahapperuma said this may be the first time in Parliament’s history that a group of Opposition MPs came to the press room and conducted a press briefing.
He alleged, looking at the Government benches, it was evident that the Government was not ready for this debate, since there were only two Cabinet Ministers in the Government ranks.
Double standard
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Dr.Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe who addressed a media briefing at the parliamentary complex later, said, by disrupting parliamentary sessions, the JO attempted to prevent its double standard being exposed when the UNHRC resolution against Sri Lanka is taken up.
The Minister said, the JO was well aware that they would be exposed as Government members are prepared to speak about former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s mishandling of the war crimes allegations. Therefore, they just used the trivial issue of time allocation as an excuse to avoid the debate. They knew very well that none in the House could provide them with a solution for their demand as it was entirely an internal issue of the UPFA.
The Minister alleged, the representatives of a dictatorial regime that reverse the course of democracy are still trying to disrupt the affairs of Parliament.
As yet another highlight was, the JO MPs on Thursday (April 6) protested against the absence of Government Ministers to answer their questions.
UPFA Colombo District MP Udaya Gammanpila drew the attention of the Speaker to the fact that there were no Ministers, State Ministers or their Deputies to respond to their questions. The MP said some Ministers delayed answering questions from Opposition MPs.
Sessions
Responding to the issue, Leader of the House Minister Kiriella said, around 25 MPs were currently abroad and he had mentioned that at the Party Leaders’ meeting as well. Minister Kiriella proposed as a solution, that the MPs’ attendance register should be made public. However, the Minister said, some questions raised by MPs were too complex and Ministers needed time to answer them.
After listening to both parties, the Speaker asked whether the House would agree to make public the list of names of MPs who attended sessions and the House unanimously agreed to do so with effect from May 1.