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Protest in the well brings life to dull week in House
By Chandani Kirinde, Our Lobby Correspondent
It was a week that Parliament seemed to have run out of any business to conduct, with sittings coming to an end less than half an hour after starting on Wednesday, and the other three sitting days seemingly going on just for the sake that they must go on.
Wednesday's sittings ended abruptly after the government rushed through the third reading of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, the passage of which was postponed after being debated in January. The Bill was delayed as the CWC, a partner in the UNF government and MPs from the estate community in the opposition had demanded that an amendment be included in this Bill to grant citizenship to the remaining stateless people in the country.

This Bill was brought to rectify an anomaly in the existing law relating to gender discrimination in the grant of Sri Lankan citizenship. On Tuesday the government rushed through the Bill with only S.Sathasivam, PA national list MP who was among those who suggested an amendment to this Bill, being there to protest against its passage. Mr.Sathasivam said he had handed in an amendment which had been totally ignored and even sat in the well of the House in protest. But his objections were ignored as the Leader of the House W.J.M. Lokubandara moved the adjournment.

However, before sittings ended, Interior Minister John Amaratunga assured the House that the government was in the process of drafting a new Bill to address the question of the stateless people and it would be submitted to Parliament within the next few weeks.
The party leaders’ meeting that took place the same day in the Parliament premises saw Mr. Rajapakse make quite a radical proposal. The issue was the non-attendance at consultative committee meetings by most of the members appointed to them. The consultative committees, which number over 40 - one for each Ministry- needs only three members to have a quorum but even this number were not present in a committee which has around 18 members and are required to meet only once a month. Mr. Rajapakse had proposed that as members are paid Rs. 500 for each meeting they attend, there should be a reprimand for non -attendance with Rs. 500 being deducted from their salaries. JVP's Wimal Weerawansa too had agreed that this was a good suggestion even though no decision was taken regarding it.

The recent publicity given in several newspapers that legislators have paid the same amount since 1982 for the heavily subsidized food in the Parliament canteen had also irked some of the MPs with one parliamentarian suggesting at the meeting that such news reports were damaging their image and that the Deputy Chairman of Committees Siri Andrahennady suggest to the media that they refrain from carrying such news items. Mr.Andrahennady, who is presiding over the House in the absence of Speaker Joseph Michael Perera who has been taken to Singapore for medical treatment, said that such a clarification was not needed.

The House approved two pieces of important legislation introduced by Finance Minister K.N.Choksy on Tuesday. They included amendments to the Public Service Provident Fund Ordinance that would provide a provident fund scheme to about 80,000 casual employees in the public sector. Under the new law, a person holding a non-pensionable post in the public service and entitled to a daily wage would have the total of the daily pay paid during the month or the monthly allowance, based on which the contributory fund would operate. The government would contribute 12 per cent and the employee eight per cent under the new scheme.

The Revenue Protection Order under the Customs Ordinance to impose duties on several imported food and industrial items to protect local farmers and industrialists was also approved by the House. Former Finance Minister and PA national list MP Ronnie De Mel who spoke on the two matters said that the government was just putting plasters on the country's economic problems whereas a revolutionary change was needed to bring about a turn around in the economy.

"You can't solve the problems by dancing to the tune of the World Bank, the IMF or the WTO. You have to bring about a revolutionary change," Mr.De Mel said.
Kumar Dassanayake, PA Nuwara Eliya district MP too criticized the government stating that all its finance reforms were benefiting smugglers and crooks and not the ordinary people.
"The government is opening the door for all criminal activities and the Finance Minister and his deputy are paving the way for them," he said. An adjournment motion on moves to privatise the Tea Small Holdings Development Authority (TSHDA) and the Tea Shakthi Fund was also debated in the House. It was moved by PA Kandy district parliamentarian Mahindananda Aluthgamage and seconded by Rev. Baddegama Samitha Thera.

However from the onset there was confusion as to why the debate was being taken up at all as former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake who spoke at its commencement said that the Tea Shakthi Fund did not come under the jurisdiction of the Plantation Industries Minister Lakshman Kiriella as the President who assigns functions to Cabinet Ministers had not included this institute under this Ministry.
He said that a Cabinet paper to privatise the Fund under the name of the Plantations Minister was illegal, as he had no authority to do so and asked the Chair to rule on the issue.

However, there was no such ruling and the debate began with Mr.Aluthgamage attacking Mr.Kiriella for trying to privatize the TSHDA but praising the Minister of Small Holders Development, Susantha Punchinilame saying the latter was against such a move. Without denying there were moves to privatize these two institutions, Mr.Kiriella said that the government would do nothing to damage or destroy the tea small holders but wants it as a profitable business.

Mr.Punchinilame said the Tea Shakthi Fund had made a profit of Rs. 98 million last year and this would be doubled this year. Deputy Plantation Minister Naveen Dissanayake said the opposition debate was "all hot air and no substance" and went onto defend Mr. Punchiniame against allegations made by JVP member Gamini Ratnayake who alleged that a security company belonging to Mr.Punchinilame had been hired to provide security to the Tea Shakthi Fund offices.

"If there are allegations, please go to the Bribery Commissioner. These allegations have no substance at all," he charged. Mr.Punchinilame said the security firm in question had been hired during the PA regime. On Tuesday, TULF Jaffna district Parliamentarian V. Anandasangaree also chose the floor of the House to deny news reports- attributed to some of his Parliament colleagues- that he had fled the country in the wake of threats to his life by the LTTE.

"There is no threat from anyone to my life and I did not flee the country. I was away from the country to attend a seminar and I am back in my country to serve my people," he said. The Deputy Chairman of Committees also announced to the House that Defence Minister Tilak Marapana who had been appointed as the Chairman of the special select committee to inquire into the resolution against member of the Bribery Commission Kingsley Wickremasooriya had resigned and John Amaratunga had been appointed in his place.

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