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Wednesday, 30 November 2011

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Parliament mayhem:

Dy minister gets one week’s suspension

*Speaker to appoint committee to recommend measures on Parliament security

*Appeals to Members to abide by House rules

Petroleum Industries Deputy Minister Sarana Gunawardena was suspended from attending Parliament for one week by Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa yesterday, after he was found to be the member who behaved in the most disorderly manner during the presentation of the budget speech by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.


Sarana Gunawardena

Irrigation and Water Resources Management Minister and Leader of the House Nimal Siripala de Silva moved the motion to suspend Gunawardena from sittings in Parliament, after the Speaker’s announcement, where he informed the Leader of the House to move the motion for suspension.

The Speaker then communicated his decision to suspend Deputy Minister Gunawardena from sittings for one week beginning yesterday.

At the commencement of business, making a special announcement on the incident during the presentation of the Budget Speech on November 21, the Speaker said such incidents would blemish the dignity and decorum of the House.

He added that such acts would cause public displeasure against Parliament.

Speaker Rajapaksa also stated that such incidents would pose a threat to the security of Parliament and its members.

He said therefore it was the duty of all to ensure there would be no repetitions of such unfortunate incidents.

The Speaker said he and the Deputy Speaker had gone into the incident and steps had to be taken to ensure there would be no repetitions of such incidents, to preserve tradition in the House, ensure security of Parliament and its members and maintain discipline in the House.

Speaker Rajapaksa also stated that according to their observation, the root cause of the deplorable conduct was the interruption made by a group of Opposition members to the Budget Speech, by exhibiting placards and posters and shouting slogans.

The commotion was created when a group of government members attempted to snatch the posters from Opposition members.

The Speaker also stated that he condemned the conduct of the MPs and warned them not to conduct themselves in the House in a way that would affect the dignity and decorum of Parliament and informed them to protect the privileges and tradition of the House.

He also informed the Leader of the House to move a motion in Parliament on a future date to suspend the Parliamentarian.

Gunawardena who behaved in a most disorderly manner out of the MPs who were responsible for the commotion was penalised under Standing Orders 72 (1) read with 74 (2).

The Speaker said it was brought to his notice where a few MPs had brought through the members entrance certain unauthorized material after resisting security checks which could pose a threat to the security of Parliament. Speaker Rajapaksa also stated that they could not forget those incidents which killed MP Keerthi Abeywickrema and caused severe injuries to MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara.

The Speaker emphasized that if the members fail to be considerate and cooperate by abiding with security measures in respect of the Members and Parliament security, there is a strong possibility of a repetition of such unfortunate incidents.

Speaker Rajapaksa stated that he would take measures to set up a committee to forward recommendations needed to ensure the dignity and decorum of Parliament, protect the traditions and discipline in the House and ensure security in the House.

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