President invites TNA to work with Government

President Mahinda Rajapaksa affirming his commitment to democracy made his presence in Parliament on Friday to deliver the reply speech at the Budget debate and effectively responded to all allegations and criticisms levelled by the Opposition members.

The significant gesture of the President's concluding remarks was his open invitation to the Opposition to cooperate with the Government to evolve a home-grown solution to ensure national reconciliation, peace and development of the country.

President Rajapaksa's participation at the final reading of the Budget in his capacity as the Finance and Planning Minister displayed his confidence and courage to face challenges.

The President's presence in Parliament to respond to each and every question raised during the budget debate can also be considered an instance to strengthen democracy. The Budget 2014 was passed in Parliament with an overwhelming majority of 95 votes, reaffirming the stability of the Government. The final vote taken on the Budget received 155 votes in favour and 60 votes against.

The President in his reply speech said that the current problems in the country cannot be solved merely by "importing" solutions from abroad. We should get together and bring about solutions that would be emulated by other nations too, he said. The President also made an open invitation to TNA Parliamentary Group Leader R. Sampanthan and Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran to join hands with the Government to find homegrown solutions to problems.

He invited the Opposition members to work together in the manner the ruling party and the opposition of the Colombo Municipal Council act to develop the country.

The President thanked the Opposition MPs who pointed out the shortcomings of the Government's programs and proposed alternatives to ensure smooth functioning. Instead of slinging mud, the Opposition should point out mistakes so that it could be rectified. The Opposition should clearly express their position as to whether the state institutions should be privatised, public service and pension rights should be curtailed, fertiliser subsidy should be stopped, paddy lands should be filled for other purposes and the Budget deficit should be increased! The Opposition should in fact present concrete proposals during the Budget debate.

The Government and the Opposition parties should reach an alliance, the President said. He told the House that priority should be given for the skills development of the youth and for developing the health sector to build a healthy population. He also stressed the need to encourage the people to live in harmony.

President Rajapaksa underlined the importance of dedicating ourselves to bring about reconciliation to ensure national harmony. He said this ultimate goal cannot be achieved by attacking each other or finding each other's faults. He said both the Government and the Opposition should join hands for the sake of developing the country. The Budget 2014 was prepared in the hope of obtaining practical contributions of all Parliamentarians whether in the Government or the opposition.

Leader of the House and Irrigation and Water Resources Management Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva on Tuesday came up with a new proposal that the expenditure heads of all ministries should be referred to a Special Select Committee (SSC) before they were taken up for debate in the House. This would amply help discuss all matters pertaining to each ministry's expenditure.

He told the House that he made this request to the Special Select Committee which discussed the expenditure heads of 23 ministries and the Secretariat for special functions of the Senior Ministers. The Minister said so when he presented the report of the Special Select Committee during the debate at the third reading.

He said both the government and the Opposition members were actively engaged in discussions on the expenditure heads at the Special Select Committee and had extended their maximum cooperation.

Chief Opposition Whip John Amaratunga endorsed the Minister's proposal that the purview of the Special Select Committee should be widened. Amaratunga said it would be worthwhile and more fruitful to refer all expenditure heads of ministries to the Select Committee. The Select Committee too welcomed this proposal.

This would save both time and money. He said during the third reading of the Budget, the Opposition MPs did not express their opinions. He asked whether there was any paucity or lack of resourcefulness on the part of the Opposition. Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa said that the matter would be taken up for further discussion and an effective program would be prepared with regard to the proposal made by the Leader of the House.

Different views were expressed on the floor of the House regarding the live telecast of the Budget debate as a pilot project. Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, in his winding up speech at the Budget debate, warned that if the Parliamentarians didn't adhere to the guidelines and provision in the Standing Orders during debates, he would have to reconsider live telecasting of parliamentary proceedings.

The Speaker thanked all parliamentarians, Parliament staff and ministry officials for their contribution which made the Budget debate which lasted for 24 days, a success.

The speaker told the House the live telecast of the Budget debate was introduced as a pilot project. However, during the course of the trial live telecasting, it had been observed that a few Parliamentarians had abused the opportunity by levelling allegations and tarnishing the image of their fellow Parliamentarians and government officials. Speaker Rajapaksa said that he expected better performance and conduct from both MPs and Ministers during the next budget debate.

However, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said that live broadcasting of proceedings should not be viewed negatively as it has paved the way to strengthen the communication between the legislature and the people. Wickremesinghe said that what happened during the pilot project should not be taken seriously to stop live telecast.

He said the live telecasting should be further widened so that the people would know what really takes place in Parliament. Similar problems and shortcomings that cropped up at the initial stages of live telecast had been experienced by many other nations who had introduced live telecasting of their Parliamentary proceedings.

A group of Government MPs who were critical of this move had started collecting signatures of fellow MPs to petition the Speaker to stop the live telecast of parliamentary proceedings.

The MPs have observed in their petition that although live telecast is a step in the right direction, it has been abused by some Opposition members to sling mud at Government legislators. Therefore, they requested the Speaker either to stop the live telecasting of parliamentary proceedings or take steps to stop mud slinging.

Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, who made a special statement in Parliament on Friday, requested the Speaker to bring in provision to sue parliamentarians who abuse the live telecast of Parliament proceedings to sling mud at fellow MPs. The Minister said he appreciated the decision of the Speaker to telecast Parliament proceedings without editing.

The Minister alleged that UNP MP Ranjan Ramanayake had engaged in mud slinging, aiming him by making use of this opportunity. The Minister pointed out that what transpired during parliamentary debates are recorded in the Hansard after a process of editing, but that opportunity and the purpose of editing were lost or overlooked when the proceedings were aired live.

It was high time that the Government should enact new laws to enable legal action against the MPs who sling mud at other members during live telecasting.