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The greatest show in Parliament
By Chris Kamalendran and Chandani Kirinde
The first meeting of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka will undoubtedly be talked of for a long time to come and not only for the controversial manner in which its Speaker was elected but also for all the antics that took place outside the chamber during the marathon session of the House.

The day's sittings began at 10 a.m. and went on till 9 p.m. For Parliamentarians, visitors, media personnel and parliamentary staff, it was an unforgettable day.

The heaviest burden of the day fell on Parliamentary Secretary General Priyanee Wijesekara. Although procedure for the election of a Speaker is laid down in plain and simple language in the Standing Orders of Parliament, Thursday's drama showed what a laborious task it could be as the people's supreme assembly was rocked by scenes hitherto unseen in post-Independence Sri Lanka.

While the drama and battles in the Well of the House reached the lowest ebb with people's representatives succumbing to emotions rather than wisdom, the unforeseen events brought in technical and logistical problems for the Secretary General and her staff -- crises within crises.

After two rounds of poll with the first round ending in a tie and the second in turmoil, the Secretary General ran short of ballot papers. More papers needed to be printed. The Secretary General made arrangements to print 500 ballot papers using a duplo machine in the parliamentary complex. As the printing process began, it gave the MPs a much-needed three-hour break. But there was no relaxing with both government and opposition MPs trying to achieve a break -- through horse-trading.

Jathika Hela Urumaya monks, who subtracted, added and held their scale even in what they later referred to as a balancing act during the greatest numbers game in Sri Lanka's parliamentary history, later told the media that as the heat of the battle increased, bribes up to Rs. 10 million were offered to secure the hottest seat in parliament.

After the nine-and-a-half-hour suspense-filled drama that made the cricket-crazy country to lose whatever interest they had in the lacklustre match in Zimbabwe, the opposition candidate W. J. M. Lokubandara pipped government candidate D. E. W. Gunaskera by 110-109 votes with a hitherto unidentified opposition member voting for the government in the tightly contested secret ballot.

What followed this was a mud-slinging match with the JHU monks being subjected to the ire and fire of government MPs. The day ended without the day's business being fully completed and the appointments of the Deputy Speaker, the Deputy Chairman of Committees and the Leader of the House had to be postponed for the next sitting scheduled for May 18.

The allocation of seats to members that is done on the first day of a new Parliament was also postponed amidst the chaos. The public galleries in Parliament were also packed to capacity and many eager family members were present to see their loved ones being sworn in as legislators. However, by the time the newly elected MPs got the chance to take their oaths, most of the visitors had left. The galleries full of people on Thursday morning were nearly empty by the day's end.

With opposition members outnumbering the government side, there was also a shortage of seats for them. Chairs had to be brought into the chamberto accommodate three opposition members.

It was a long day also for nearly 100 media personnel, both local and foreign. As the curtain came down on Thursday, there was a sense of relief among many and they believe that the fallout of the day's happenings would be carried forward to the next meeting of the legislature.

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