Maintain decorum of House, says Speaker

Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa upholding the dignity and decorum of the House issued a serious warning to two UNP MPs that he could order their removal from the Chamber when they defied the orders from the Chair on Thursday.

UNP Hambantota District MP Sajith Premadasa was the first to incur the wrath of the Speaker when he was on his feet even after he was told by the Speaker that he had decided to put off his question as doubts were raised whether he had asked the same question about a month ago. The Speaker told the MP that he would postpone the question for next week.

When Agrarian Services and Wildlife Minister S.M. Chandrasena stood up to answer the MP's question, UPFA Parliamentarian A.H.M. Azwar raised a point of order that this same question on wild elephant population in the country had been raised last month and was given a comprehensive answer. Azwer told the House in lighter vein, that MP Premadasa should have asked about she-elephants without repeating on wild elephants.

This led the Opposition members to make some absurd remarks. Finally the Speaker who took a serious note of MP Azwer's point of order told MP Premadasa that he had decided to put off the question for next week.

However, when MP Premadasa attempted to speak without obeying the order by the Speaker, an angry Speaker asked him to abide by his decision. When the Speaker asked MP Premadasa whether he prepared to leave the Chamber, the latter sat down. Later the MP was permitted to ask the question after the Speaker said it was differently worded from the one raised in May.

Later in the day, UNP Kandy District Parliamentarian Lakshman Kiriella too faced a similar situation when he queried why the Speaker rejected the UNP's adjournment motion on the cancellation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa's speech to the Commonwealth Economic Forum in London. The Speaker maintained that it was not of national importance.

However, when MP Kiriella raised the matter in the House, the Speaker said he had given his ruling and there was no need to discuss it further. When the MP continued to argue, the Speaker asked him to leave the chamber. However, things cooled down soon after Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe intervened. It was however decided to discuss the matter at a Party Leaders' meeting later in the day.

Following an oral question by UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake on the Norochcholai coal power plant, the Speaker proposed that Power and Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka should organise a trip to Norochcholai power plant for the MPs to better acquaint with coal power production.

Minister Ranawaka who accepted the Speaker's proposal invited all Parliamentarians to visit the Norochcholai power plant. MP Karunanayake alleged that the power plant was supposed to run on coal power but it is run on diesel instead. The Minister also made the point that all coal power plants in the world use diesel for the start-up and asked the MP not to display his lack of knowledge and awareness on the subject.

He told the MP that he may be an expert in certain other subjects and issues, but he knows nothing of the coal power generation.

The Speaker took a serious note on the reference made by MP Ravi Karunanayake to the inordinate delay on the part of the Finance Ministry in providing answers to the questions by the Opposition parliamentarians.

The Speaker told the House that action would have to be taken to summon the Finance Ministry Secretary to Parliament to question him on the delay in providing answers relating his Ministry.

The Speaker made this reference when Deputy Finance Minister Geethanjana Gunawardena asked for four weeks additional time to provide answers for to questions raised by MP Karunanayake. MP Karunanayake brought it to the notice of the Chair that almost all questions directed to the Finance Ministry do not receive answers but additional time is requested.

However, Deputy Minister Gunawardena told the Speaker that accurate and detailed answers have to be provided to the questions raised by the Opposition and therefore additional time was needed.

But the Speaker made the point that there seemed to be a delay on the part of ministry officials to provide answers to the questions and said that action would have to be taken to summon the Finance Secretary to question the reasons for the undue delay.

The JVP in Parliament on Tuesday demanded the government to reveal the content of its action plan on accountability and reconciliation presented to the United States recently.

Making a special statement JVP Parliamentary Group Leader MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris who was recently in Washington had presented an action plan to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The MP in his speech attempted to highlight that the action plan was in response to the US sponsored anti-Sri Lankan resolution adopted at the 19th session of UNHRC in Geneva.

He also made the point that the US resolution called upon the Sri Lankan government to implement an Action Plan and for the UNHRC to work in consultation and with the concurrence of the Sri Lankan government to implement the LLRC recommendations.

Leader of the House and Irrigation and Water Management Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva in response to MP Dissanayake's statement told the House that the Government had not submitted any action plan to the US State Secretary on the implementation of the LLRC report. Quoting a reply by External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Pieris on the statement made by JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the Minister said it was mere fiction that a secret document containing the action plan had been presented to the US Secretary of State.

The full text of the statement read out to the House by Minister Silva on behalf of the External Affairs Minister emphasised that the Government had consistently sought to ensure the non-internationalisation of domestic issues.

It is our steadfast position in this regard which provided the basis for Sri Lanka to categorically oppose any international initiatives which impinged on national issues.