Speaker dismisses issues being raised over Premalal becoming MP

Says it should have been raised in court

By Saman Indrajith

It was too late to make an issue of Premalal Jayasekera (SLPP) becoming an MP, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena told Parliament on Thursday, adding that it should have been raised in the Court of Appeal before it decided to allow Jayasekera to take oaths.

 The Speaker said so when Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa raised objections to Jayasekera taking oaths as an MP while on death row for a murder. 

Raising a point of order, Opposition Leader Premadasa said that by allowing Jayasekera to take oaths the Speaker had set a wrong precedent.  “In 1982, Selvarajah Yogachandran, also known as Kuttimani, one of the leaders of the TELO, was nominated to Parliament. His name was gazetted to become an MP. However, the then Speaker Bakeer Markar citing the Sections 89 and 91 of the Constitution did not permit Yogachandran to take oaths as an MP because the latter had been sentenced to death. Yogachandran too had appealed against the sentence. That is the precedent in Parliament. That should not have been breached as per section 91 (1) (a) of the Constitution no person shall be qualified to be elected as a Member of Parliament or to sit and vote in Parliament if he is or becomes subject to any of the disqualifications specified in Article 89. The Section 89 (d) of the Constitution says that, no person shall be qualified to be an elector at an election of the President, or of the Members of Parliament or to vote at any referendum if he is under sentence of death and he will lose his right to vote under such a sentence. The Speaker by the act of permitting Jayasekera to take oaths violated the Constitutional provisions.

Speaker Abeywardena:

It is too late and this is not the forum to raise the matter. You should have raised it at the Court of Appeal before it decided to permit Jayasekera to take oaths. The court informed Parliament of its ruling to permit Jayasekera to sit here. We carried out that order.

Opposition Leader Premadasa:

We are not talking of the duty of judges or how they are appointed. What we are talking about is the violation of the constitution and a parliamentary precedent. The Speaker should have followed the example set by former Speakers Bakeer Markar and Anura Bandaranaike, who said Parliament was above the judiciary. We are in no way casting aspersions on Jayasekera. This is not a matter against him personally. We are talking of the matter in principle.

Chief Opposition Whip Kandy District MP Lakshman Kiriella:

When the court gave an order the former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake could not be subjected to questions of a parliamentary select committee, the then speaker Chamal Rajapaksa ignored the court order stating that Parliament was not bound to follow court orders.

The speaker:

That is a separate issue. It has nothing to do with the issue at hand.

Chief Opposition Whip Kiriella:

You said that you followed the court order to permit Jayasekera to take oaths. You should have followed the precedent and not permitted the murder convict to take oaths. 

Leader of the House Minister Dinesh Gunawardena:

The speaker has given a ruling on the matter. It cannot be debated. That is against the Standing Orders. Now, on the pretext of points of order, the Opposition keeps discussing a past issue. This matter is over. These points of order are causing a great injustice to people who voted for MP Jayasekera. You cannot raise points of order to discuss a matter pertaining to a ruling of the Speaker. If there is a matter against the ruling of the chair, then there is a procedure to be followed in addressing it. You have to bring it in the form of a substantive motion. There you have provisions to raise the issue in a motion. Then we could debate it here.

Kurunegala District SJB MP Nalin Bandara Jayamaha:

The executive, legislature and the judiciary are the three main pillars of government. The speaker is the head of legislature. The act of allowing Jayasekera to become an MP, has now gone beyond the borders of this country. It is now reported in The Guardian and The New York Times. Those reports have mentioned your name too. This is a great dishonor to this legislature. The matter should be taken seriously.

Speaker Abeywardena said that the matter was hindering other business of parliament and moved the House to the next item on the agenda.