Crosstalk in House
 The much-debated Avant Garde floating armoury issue took a new turn
in the House on Wednesday (November 4) due to the remarks by Law and
Order and Prisons Reforms Minister Tilak Marapana from a legal
perspective, that there had been nothing illegal with regard to Avant
Garde and alleged the police had cooked up a case from unsubstantial
allegations to appease their new masters after the regime change.
Minister Marapana in his speech attempted to convince the House that
there was no proper case on the issue and the Attorney General (AG) too
had reiterated the same position. The Minister maintained that Avant
Garde officials had done nothing wrong or illegal and there had been no
fraud associated with the floating armoury. Justice Minister Wijeyadasa
Rajapakshe who also quoted from the AG's opinion, endorsed the fact that
there was no evidence to prosecute anyone in connection with the Avant
Garde under the Firearms Ordinance or the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
The Avant Garde issue turned into a hot topic in the House following
the adjournment motion moved by JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake who
flayed the government's inaction to bring the culprits to book while
defending the fraudsters. Dissanayake's hard-hitting speech referred to
a series of mega frauds committed during the former regime and described
the Avant Garde floating armoury issue as the biggest financial fraud in
the country's recent history. It seemed that government legislators who
patiently listened to the MP's speech had endorsed most of the views
expressed by him. The MP was very critical of the conduct of government
legislators not taking measures to bring the fraudsters to book.
Scathing attack
Galle District UPFA parliamentarian Manusha Nanayakkara who joined
the debate launched a scathing attack on MP Dissanayake's speech and
said the JVP acts like saints who had not committed even a minor mistake
in the past. MP Nanayakkara pointed out as to how the JVP also
represented the National Executive Council and acted as a stakeholder in
the government. The JVP is making a deliberate attempt to 'whitewash'
the government, he said. He told the House that Minister Marapana in his
speech had categorically rejected the baseless arguments put forward by
the JVP Leader on the Avant Garde issue.
Over 20 UPFA rebel MPs led by MP Dinesh Gunawardena enacted a 'drama'
again in Parliament on Tuesday (November 3) shouting slogans and
hoisting placards in the well of the House against the Government
letting the Police contain a recent demonstration organised by Higher
National Diploma of Accountancy (HNDA) students. The first episode of
the 'drama' commenced when MP Gunawardena demanded to know as to why the
government prevented, HNDA students from coming towards Parliament on
Tuesday, November 3. He said that the Police and the military had been
deployed to prevent the students from coming to Parliament to meet
opposition MPs and present their case of being assaulted by the police.
At this point, the UPFA rebel MPs got up from their seats and put up
placards which read 'Let's condemn Yahapalana police attack on
students,' and 'Down with Ranil's police thugs!' and shouted against the
Government. This led to an uproar in the House and a verbal exchange
between the government and the opposition members.
Opposition leader commended
Chaos followed the special statement by Opposition Leader R.
Sampanthan who raised the issue of the police attack on students while
Chief Opposition Whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake condemned outright the
police attack on students. Who gave orders to the police to attack
students? The Opposition members questioned. Opposition Leader R.
Sampanthan vehemently condemned the police baton-charge against female
students during the HNDA students' protest in Colombo.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and Higher Education Minister Lakshman
Kiriella responding to the protesting MPs blamed the previous government
for not taking meaningful action to resolve the HNDA students' problem
once and for all. However, the Premier commended the Opposition Leader
who took up the issue and highlighted the problems faced by students in
the South as well. Amidst the commotion, MP Gunawardena attempted to
blame the Speaker that he had summoned the Army to stop students
marching to Parliament. The following day, the Speaker making an
announcement in Parliament categorically denied the MP's allegation and
said it was the security establishments' job to give orders to the Army.
The Prime Minister reminded the UPFA rebel MPs that those who were
trying to make a big hue and cry of deploying security personnel around
Parliament did not utter a word when two MPs were killed in cold-blood.
Medium term economic policy
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe on Thursday (November 5) in presenting
the government's medium term economic policy in Parliament said that the
government's strategy was to create a knowledge and skills-based
society. The Premier told the House that as the first step towards
achieving this goal, the government would do away with taxes on books
and sports goods. He also briefed the House on the government's plan to
convert Sri Lanka into a 'low tax country' very soon by reforming the
economy and infrastructure.
MP Dinesh Gunawardena on Thursday (November 5) walked out of the
Chamber protesting against the government debating an Order under the
Excise (Special Provisions) Act and several resolutions under the
Customs Ordinance and Excise Ordinance. Several UPFA MPs such as Bandula
Gunawardena, Chandrasiri Gajadeera and UPFA backbenchers followed MP
Gunawardena and abstained from participating in the debate. When the
time came for the Notice of Motions and Orders of the day, Chief
Opposition Whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake, UPFA MPs Bandula Gunawardena
and Dinesh Gunawardena who spoke against the government taking up the
Order and Resolutions for the debate commented that more than three
months had elapsed since their introduction to Parliament.
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