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An extract from the Parliamentary Hansard of November 16 1995, of the speech of former Prime Minister (Mrs) Sirimavo R D Bandaranaike

Mr. Speaker, I do not intend to take much time of this House in dealing with the Budget in detail. I have something very important to say which I have been wanting to do for some time. I think, I am the most senior parliamentarian, the most long-standing parliamentarian in this House.

This is the sixth Parliament I am sitting in. Therefore, I have a right and duty to say this. I have been wanting to say this for some time. What is it? I have been shocked at the behaviour of our Members recently. I am not talking of only the Opposition, but both sides. People are shocked at the way we behave in Parliament.

This is a dignified place. This is the Legislature of the people. Therefore, you must keep the dignity of this House.

Mr. Speaker, you and all of us, have to keep the dignity of this House. Why did the people send us to Parliament? They want to solve their problems and not to fight like this and blackguard each other using filthy words. We forget that the people are watching from the gallery, especially school children. Are you setting an example to them?

They come and watch us. No wonder the schools and universities are in this situation today. When we are undisciplined in this House, the Legislature of this country, can we expect university students and school children to behave well?

Therefore, we have to learn to behave ourselves better. We abused each other with bad language, unparliamentary language. Most Members have been doing that.

I am sorry to say that. Members are not allowed to speak, they are disturbed and shouted down. When a Hon. Member says something unpleasant to them, they shout and disturb his speech.

This is one of the reasons why I have not been coming to this House too often. I feel very sorry and disgusted the way things are happening in this House.

It is deteriorating from year to year. I am sorry, to say nearly 40 years after Independence, at the beginning I must say - I have been in this House for so long - the Hon. Members spoke with dignity.

Some of the speakers like Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, Dr. N. M. Perera, Mr. Felix Dias Bandaranaike, my late husband - I was not in Parliament, to listen to his speeches - Mr. G. G. Ponnambalam, Mr. Sivasithamparam made very dignified and very good speeches.

But today can we say that about our speakers? Therefore, we have to decide, are we going to stay in this Parliament or leave it? If we cannot behave properly we should leave.

You should all go out without staying in this Parliament. You should not behave like rowdies. That is what is happening today. Some are rowdies.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I am blaming Hon. Members on both sides of this House, not that side or this side, because some of our Members do not behave too well. I am sorry to say that.

They do not like criticism. They shout and try to drown the voice of the speaker. That is not what is expected of them. Why do the people send us to Parliament? To do something useful for the people. Not to be shouting and behaving in an irresponsible manner.

We should not lose the trust of the people. If we are hoping to go back for their vote, before long, the people of this country, particularly the youth will throw us out by the scruff of our necks if we go on like this. Like the 1971 insurrection, another insurrection can come. The people are disgusted with what is happening here.

That is what they say. And before long, I am sure, there is going to be another insurrection, if we do not look sharp and if we do not set an example to the people of this country who have sent us to Parliament, this sacred place.

We have to maintain the dignity of this House and the sacredness of this House. That is what we must do. Not to come to this Parliament and enjoy the perks that we get and talk nonsense in this House. Sometimes, the language we do not use in front of our children we use it here. School children come here.

Are we setting an example to these school children? They are the future leaders of our country. They might some day come to this Parliament. Therefore, we must set an example to them. That should be our theme. Now, we are approaching another new year, 1996. Let us all resolve to behave ourselves better. My throat is bad. I thought I would not be able to speak today . Fortunately, so far I had no problem.

Therefore, I drink hot water and speak. So let us all resolve - I am telling to Hon. Members on both sides of the House - that by the new year we will make this Parliament a better Parliament, a more decent one so that anybody who comes here can go back without being ashamed.

Mr. Speaker, you must be much more firmer. I do not think you are firm enough. I am sorry to say this. I am not criticising you. But if you are firm this House will be more disciplined. You are giving in too much.

The Speaker must be firm and we must all resolve not to misbehave in this way; We must set an example to the people of this country who have sent us to Parliament, voted for us and given us power to solve their problems.

We should not be fighting here. Sometimes it come to fisticuffs also, hitting each other. I remember, Mr. Dudley Senanayake, when he was the Prime Minister, of course, in a much more dignified way, crossed the floor of this House to assault one of our MPs. He said , """vœYY%n AN"N?'', and came with his hand like this.

But still, it was done in a more dignified way, not in the way it happens now. There were very good speakers then, like Mr. Dudley Senanayake, Mr. G. G. Ponnambalam and Dr. Colvin R. de Silva. It was worth listening to them. It was a pleasure to listen to them.

Sometimes I used to come and sit in the gallery and listen to their speeches. But today can we say that of our Hon. Members? Except for one or two speakers, we just talk nonsense, abuse people and use this House to attack our enemies.

That is not what this House is meant for. We call the British Parliament the "Mother of Parliaments." Do they behave like this? I happened to be in the British Parliament on the day Sir Anthony Eden resigned over the Suez crisis.

I was there with my husband. Even those MPs had no seats to sit down; some of them sat on the steps; such a large number there and all of them are not accommodated in seats. They were shouting and screaming, but they did not use bad language; they threw paper balls at each other. That is how they behaved. I am not saying that they are angels, but still, that is an example to us.

We call it the Mother of Parliaments, but are we really following their example? No. I think ours is the worst Parliament in the world, the way we are behaving since of late. This is of recent happening. When we were in the Opposition, I remember, Mr. Vasudeva Nanayakkara was put on that step and kicked by some Members of the Government side. That is how we have behaved.

It is shocking. People are shocked. They ask, did we send them to Parliament for this? I have no answer. So let us all behave ourselves or let those who can run this Parliament properly come here. Otherwise the people will catch by the scruff of our necks and throw us out.

The youth of our country will do that. They are getting ready for that. There is no doubt about that. They are disgusted. They do not think that we are MPs. They think we are mad people.

Therefore, let us resolve today -only one and half months more for 1996 and a new year dawns after that - to behave ourselves like decent people, talk a decent language, not abuse each other and not behave in the way we behaved in the recent past. If we do that, I think, this Parliament is something worth to be in. I do not want to speak further.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker

...

(Mr. Speaker)

Thank you, Madam for the nice advice you gave to bothsides of the House and to me. I will try my very best to maintain law and order very firmly from tomorrow.

3.15 p.m.

(The Hon. Rauff Hakeem, Deputy Chairman of Committees)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to follow the respected Hon. Prime Minister who gave us those wonderful words of advice. I really appreciate her indomitable courage, and with her frailty and age, although she makes very rare contributions in this House, such words of advice are really appreciated by all of us.

We have also had some words of caution to the chair and I must say, Speaker, in defence of you that as a Co-Presiding Officer in this House we have had very difficult times. We need the co-operation of Hon. Members from bothsides of the House.

But there is one proud record that we have maintained in this Tenth Parliament that we have so far, despite all the quarrels we have had in the House, not sent out a single Hon. Member out of the Chamber, although we have suspended the sittings because of the troubles we have had in the House.

But are lessons for us to learn, particularly coming from the Hon. Prime Minister, the words of advice. The whole nation has been told today about the declining standards of Debate and behaviour in this House. We must thank the Hon. Prime Minister for those words.

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