Lobby

Speaker draws the line as MPs fail to heed

  • Govt. rakes UNP’s past as a response to Opposition charges of financial mismanagement, corruption and bribery
By Chandani Kirinde, Our Lobby Correspondent

Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa got tough in Parliament last week, once threatening to remove from the Chamber, two UNP legislators for defying orders from the Chair, and secondly, saying he would have to summon Secretary- Ministry of Finance and Planning, P.B. Jayasundera to the House, if questions directed at his Ministry, by Opposition legislators, go unanswered for a long period of time.

The two UNP MPs who angered the Speaker were Hambantota District MP Sajith Premadasa and Kandy District MP Lakshman Kiriella, the former, by attempting to speak up after the Chair had made a ruling on an oral question MP Premadasa had raised, while the latter attempted to challenge the Speaker regarding an adjournment motion that the UNP had given notice of.

The UNP wanted Parliament to hold an adjournment debate on the cancellation of the event at the Commonwealth Economic Forum in London, which was to be addressed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, but the Speaker had turned it down on the grounds the “matter had no national importance.”

When MP Kiriella brought up the matter in the House, the Speaker said he had given his ruling and there was no need to discuss the matter further. When MP Kiriella continued to speak, defying the ruling from the Chair, he was asked to leave the Chamber by the Speaker. However, tempers cooled soon afterwards, and the UNP MP remained in the House.

The Speaker’s comments that he would have to summon Finance Secretary Jayasundera, came about after UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake brought to the notice of the Chair that the answers to the questions directed at his Ministry are being delayed.

Deputy Minister of Finance Geethanjana Gunawardena who usually replies on behalf of the Finance Ministry, sought time to reply to a question raised last Thursday, by the UNP MP on the number of licences issued to establish Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka to date, from the inception of the Central Bank. This resulted in MP Karunanayake informing the Chair that almost all questions directed to the Finance Ministry do not receive answers promptly.

The Speaker then noted that there seems to be a delay on the part of ministry officials to provide the answers to questions directed at the Finance Ministry, and said he would have to summon the Ministry Secretary to answer them.

Apart from tough talk from the Speaker, which made for headline news, the Government once again came under criticism from Opposition parties for failing to curb the rising cost of living, as well as for its lack of transparency in keeping the country informed about who it was dealing with, in the international community, post-Geneva resolution.

It was JVP Parliamentary Group Leader MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake who made a special statement to Parliament on Tuesday, demanding that the government reveal to the country, through Parliament, the contents of the action plan on accountability and reconciliation, which External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris had taken with him to submit to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, when the two met recently.
The JVP MP said that the action plan had been prepared after a US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka was adopted at the March sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.

However, Leader of the House, Nimal Siripala De Silva denied that any action plan had been taken to the US by Minister Peiris, claiming that, talk of such a secret document is “just fiction”, and that the government has consistently attempted to ensure the non-internationalization of domestic issues.
UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake on Thursday moved an adjournment motion on the mishandling of the economy by the Government, and said that financial mismanagement by the government has put the country‘s future in jeopardy.

UNP National List MP Eran Wickramaratne who seconded the motion, said that the corrupt practices taking place in the share market is as rampant as corruption in other sectors within the country. “It is the responsibility of the government to ensure good governance, but it has not taken any action to stop bribery and corruption,” he asserted.

International Monetary Co-operation Minister (Senior) Dr Sarath Amunugama said that, “the UNP has forgotten its past, when the worst corruption took place during the UNP regime.” “There were hundreds of reports presented to Parliament regarding corruption by UNP members. They have now forgotten their own past,” Minister Amunugama said.

He said that massive development projects have been undertaken in the country, and that the economy is stable.


Top to the page  |  E-mail  |  views[1]
SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend
 
Other Columns
Political Column
MR's London fiasco: Diplomatic and intelligence failure
5th Column
Negotiating a tricky wicket
The Economic Analysis
Trade deficit could surpass last year's record
Lobby
Speaker draws the line as MPs fail to heed
Focus on Rights
Clownishness directed at the world at large
Talk at the Cafe Spectator
Patient Jayaratne calls patient Attanayake
In the National interest
Banning the clergy from Parliament: A non-issue

 

 
Reproduction of articles permitted when used without any alterations to contents and a link to the source page.
© Copyright 1996 - 2012 | Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.Colombo. Sri Lanka. All Rights Reserved | Site best viewed in IE ver 8.0 @ 1024 x 768 resolution