Condemning the uproar which erupted in the Parliament Chamber on 3 July over State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran’s claim that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam should return, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya yesterday (4), told the House that the behaviour of the Joint Opposition (JO) Parliamentarians Wimal Weerawansa and Prasanna Ranaweera during the uproar was a disgrace to the entire Parliament.
Speaker Jayasuriya, making a special statement on the incident, said, “As soon as we came to know of the seriousness of the statement made by Maheswaran, I took steps to hold an inquiry. I ordered for a copy of the video tape which contains Maheswaran’s speech and ordered that it be translated. In my capacity as the Speaker I did everything necessary. I contacted her Party Leader and directed the matter to the Attorney General for legal instructions.”
“That unfortunate incident happened on 3 July in such a backdrop. We all should be ashamed of disrupting the sittings of the House by attempting to grab the Mace and harm it to prevent the passing of Regulations under the National Medicines Regulatory Authority which had a national importance,” Speaker Jayasuriya pointed out.
Furthermore, he noted, “Our Parliament has been recognized as a model Parliament in the world by the Inter Parliamentary Union. The behaviour we saw from some MPs on 3 July was very embarrassing and it tarnished the image the Sri Lanka Parliament has. I instructed the Attorney General to take legal action after an investigation into the matter. That is the highest action possible that can be taken by Speaker under the powers vested by the Constitution,” he said.
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