Maintain decorum of House - Dy.Speaker

The Government and the Opposition Chief Whips engaged in a heated argument in Parliament on Thursday over the issue of calling for quorum thrice on Wednesday which resulted in UNP MP Ajith P. Perera making a controversial statement warning that the public would set Parliament ablaze if Members fail to attend sittings. The Government ranks who condemned the MP's statement as provocative and serious demanded him to withdraw it.

The main Opposition the UNP on Wednesday called for the closure of Parliament before people set it ablaze as the members, especially those in the government ranks seemed to take sittings lightly.

UNP Kalutara District Parliamentarian Ajith P. Perera said so while calling upon the chair for a quorum for the third time in the day. The MP asked when the Government has the majority, how come the House does not have a quorum?

However the visibly angry government Ministers and MPs said that they had to attend to other matters such as consultative committees in Parliament.

Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that the Chair should take up the issue with the Speaker not to have consultative committee meetings during the Parliamentary sittings. Chief Government Whip and Water Supply and Drainage Minister Dinesh Gunawardena who made a serious note of what UNP MP Ajith Perera said in Parliament on Wednesday wanted him to withdraw his controversial statement. Minister Gunawardena who criticised this statement asked Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as to why the Opposition conducts in such a manner in the Chamber? The Minister in his hard-hitting remarks demanded if any UNP MP has said that the Parliament should be set on fire, he should immediately withdraw that statement. The Minister said as a new MP he should aquaint himself with the conduct of Parliament. The irate Chief Government Whip said that when the Opposition Leader speaks about democracy, a backbencher of his own party warns Parliament to be set ablaze.

Minister Gunawardena brought to the notice of Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody that the UNP members on Wednesday got the Chair to ring the bell calling for a quorum three times to ridicule Parliament. He also said that it was not fair for the Opposition members to ring the quorum bell thrice for fun knowing that the Members were in Parliament, and make provocative speeches. The Minister demanded through the Deputy Speaker that the new MP who made the remark should withdraw it. However, Minister Gunawardena's statement led to a heated argument between him and the Chief Opposition Whip John Amaratunga. The Chief Opposition Whip responding to the Minister said when the first quorum was called there were only two members on the Government side. Minister Gunawardena interrupting MP Amaratunga told the House that when the first quorum was called there were 54 ruling party Members but only 26 from the Opposition. He also said that the Government members were all engaged in important work in Committees such as COPE, Public Accounts Committee and the Petitions Committee. He queried as to whether the Opposition was asking not to conduct these Committees?

Referring to the remarks by Minister Gunawardena, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told the House that he would look into the matter and ensure that none of the members of his party want to see Parliament in blaze. This is a beautiful building and we consider it a pride for party since it was the UNP that built it and therefore, none of us the UNPers want to see it on fire." he said. At this point an irate Chief Whip Gunawardena said it is the UNP that has a history of setting fire to buildings and people. The Minister said they remember how the UNP did so in 1983. It is out of habit that the UNP talk about setting things ablaze when it comes to July," he said recalling the memories of 1983 July riots, which provoked Opposition Whip John Amaratunga to respond.

As the two Whips continued arguing, UPFA member A.H.M. Azwer rising to a Point of Order demanded that UNP MP Ajith P. Perera who let parliament down by calling it to be demolished should be expelled. Azwer noted that the statement by the UNP MP is a threat to the Parliament and said that the Chief Government Whip only demanded the withdrawal of his statement but he himself demanded that a motion should be moved to expel the said member from Parliament. The MP also raised the point as to how many minutes does the Opposition Leader sit in the House? Following Azwer's point of order,the Opposition Leader said that none of them want to set, the parliament ablaze. In a lighter vein he said if there are jokers in the House, the people will throw them out.

Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody responding to the remarks by both the Government and the Opposition members said members from both parties had acted irresponsibly. If the two sides conduct with a sense of responsibility, the dignity of Parliament will be safeguarded and media would not have an opportunity to report anything that would compromise the dignity of the House. The Deputy Speaker said it was not proper for Members to ring the quorum bell for the fun of it when they knew well that both, the Government and the Opposition members were in the Parliamentary complex participating in various parliamentary committees.

The strike by the university teachers turned into an important topic in the House following a special statement by DNA MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake. MP Dissanayake stressed that Higher Education Minister should not let further aggravate the ongoing crisis in universities and take immediate action to find answers to the grievances of university teachers. The MP who justified the demands of the university teachers said those demands should be granted to resolve the current crisis in universities. Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake responding to the issues raised by the MP said the pay hike demanded by the university teachers was not reasonable at all. He said the salaries paid to the university teachers were sufficient as they had also been given an increment recently. Throughout the history, this kind of salary increment has never been given to other public servants, let alone even half of it.

The issue of bribery and corruption triggered in the House during the debate. The Opposition Leader who joined the debate expressed displeasure over the functioning of the Commission. He said it is useless to give fuel allowances or other benefits to the members of the Commission, if they don't fulfil their duties properly. Environment Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa responding to several issues by the Opposition Leader told the House that after the act was passed, Sri Lanka has achieved rapid progress in checking bribery and corruption. Many people have been arrested on bribery and corruption charges, he added. The Minister said there was no basis for the facts highlighted by the Opposition Leader and most of them were wild allegations. Rather than talking or levelling allegations on bribery and corruption, proper investigations should be conducted to bring the culprits to book.