High drama in well of House
 Yet another drama acted by the Joint Opposition (JO) in the well of
the House protesting against the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) Bill
enabled the Government to pass the Bill with certain amendments amid the
shouting and chanting of various slogans by JO MPs, disrupting the
proceedings of the House. Despite the consensus reached at the Party
Leaders' meeting to have a two days' debate on the Bill, the JO members
showed deliberate attempts to sabotage the passage of the Bill, citing
various reasons which they should have taken up during the debate if
they were concerned about the content of the Bill. The Government
legislators said, Parliamentarians who opposed the OMP Bill were those
who had plans to make people disappear, and they may be thinking of
bringing back the white van ghost, to everybody's horror.
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera who addressed a press briefing
soon after the Bill was ratified, said, the attempts of the JO to
sabotage the Bill exposed their political opportunism and showed they
were willing to swim in the tears of the victims' loved ones for mere
political mileage. Minister Samaraweera hailed the passage of the OMP
Bill and described it as 'historic' and accused the JO Parliamentarians
as, 'opportunistic thugs'. The Minister said the new law would give
relief to the loved ones of thousands from the North and South who had
disappeared, and added that it is the first step towards rectifying the
mistakes of the past 68 years.
Following the Foreign Minister's press briefing, the JO which also
held a press briefing at the Parliamentary complex said, it would not
accept the Bill as a legitimate piece of legislation. The Joint
Opposition MPs attended the press conference, wearing black arm bands
and shawls, as a sign of protest against the Government undermining
parliamentary process. JO Leader Dinesh Gunawardena said, though the
Government announced that the Bill was passed, it was against the
Standing Orders of Parliament. He made the point that only a bill passed
in accordance with the Standing Orders of Parliament could be accepted
as a proper piece of legislation.
The following day, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said, the incidents during
the debate on the OMP Bill in the well of the House on Thursday ( August
11) had caused a big damage to the dignity and decorum of Parliament,
and both, Government and Opposition lawmakers should be ashamed of it.
The Speaker told the House, JO MPs are entitled to stage protests but
they had to be mindful of when and where they do so. "Politicians may be
rebellious when staging protests, but such protests should be held at
appropriate places such as the Lipton's Circus and Hyde Park, and not in
the well of the House. Citing an example the Speaker said "The MPs
should not use the dining room to do what they are supposed to do in a
lavatory".
When the Leader of the House and Higher Education and Highways
Minister Lakshman Kiriella moved the OMP Bill for Second Reading, Joint
Opposition Leader Dinesh Gunawardena told the House, the JO would not
agree to the Government's changing the session plan, which was to hold
the debate for two days and have the vote on Friday evening (August 12),
and instead to advance the voting to 11 am on Friday. Gunawardena
alleged that shortening the time of debate would deprive the time
allocated for Opposition MPs to speak in Parliament which is a
deprivation of their privileges. Following the MP's statement, the JO
members invaded the well of Parliament and acted another episode of the
drama, wearing black armbands as a sign of protest against the Bill.
Some JO front liners such as, Wimal Weerawansa were seen wearing a black
sataka and shouting slogans against the Government for betraying the
nation.
As the JO members continuously disrupted the proceedings, Speaker
Karu Jayasuriya suspended sittings around 12.19 pm on Thursday (August
11) and called for a special Party Leaders' meeting. Opposition Leader
R. Sampanthan said, his party had agreed to continue the debate till
9.30 pm on Thursday because the OMP Bill was important. However, JO MPs
Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Wimal Weerawansa opposed the Opposition
Leader's suggestion and demanded that JO MPs need more time to air their
views. MP Nanayakkara was of the view that the Government had proposed
17 amendments to the Bill and those amendments should be presented to
the Oversight Committee before being taken up in the House.
Minister Kiriella told the House the Government was willing to extend
the time of the debate and invited Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera
to commence the debate. However , the JO MPs invaded the well for the
second , disrupting the proceedings. Amid the uproar on the floor of the
House, Minister Samaraweera introduced the B__ill which was seconded by
TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran. JVP Parliamentarian Bimal Ratnayake also spoke,
while JO MPs remained in the well shouting slogans. As they didn't
participate in the debate, or occupy their seats, the Government read
out the amendments to the Bill while the JO MPs were shouting slogans.
This led the Government to pass the Bill with amendments and the entire
process took place within less than two hours.
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya told Parliament that the Supreme Court had
determined that the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill is inconsistent as
it had failed to adhere to the due process a financial bill should
follow. Making a special announcement the Speaker said, the court has
determined that the provisions contained in Article 152 of the
Constitution and Standing Order 133 are imperative in character and the
failure to follow them render the subsequent proceedings a nullity. JO
Leader Dinesh Gunwardena told the House that the VAT Bill brought up by
Finance Minister was null and void. He said, there is some
responsibility on the part of the Minister when a bill is presented in
Parliament and added that the Bill had not received the approval of the
Cabinet of Ministers. If there is no document, it is for the Secretary
General of Parliament to inform the Minister or Secretary to the
Ministry that the certificate of Cabinet of Ministers' approval is
missing. Without that certificate of approval, a draft bill could not be
included in the Order Book or the Order Paper of Parliament. Had those
who opposed the Economic and Technical Corporation Agreement ( ETCA)
were present when Arhat Mahinda brought Buddhism to Sri Lanka, they
surely would have opposed him coming and propagating the message of the
Buddha in this country, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in
Parliament yesterday.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe responding to a question raised by UFPA
Kalutara District MP Jayantha Samaraweera said, there was no need for
Sri Lankans to harbor fears of ETCA which would help promote economic
development of Sri Lanka. The Prime Minister said, there was no need for
a Hanuman Bridge linking India, and Sri Lanka."We do not need bridges.
It was those who made commissions and profited themselves who think of
building bridges. If someone promises 30 percent commission from a
single bridge they would have started building, not one but dozens of
bridges," Wickremesinghe said.
Prime Minister said that Indian Commerce Minister would visit Sri
Lanka in the future to sign the ETCA pact. The objective of the ETCA was
to obtain a market for the Lankan products.He said that Economic and
Technological Cooperation Agreement would be presented to Parliament
before it would be signed with India. He said the ETCA would help
hundreds of thousands of Lankan youth to find job opportunities.He said,
Lankans should not have fears of foreigners coming to Sri Lanka for jobs
and recalled how Chinese, Indian, Bangladesh and Nepali nationals had
been permitted to work in Sri Lanka during the times of the previous
regime.
"Do not create a picture of a devil out of this issue. These people
portray Indians as invaders. What would have happened had these people
been present when Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka? Surely they
would have mounted protests against Mihindu Thera because he was an
Indian.
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