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Opposition planning to boycott budget debate over ‘assault’

Published

5 years ago

2021/12/6

Sahan Weerasooriya

Crucial party leaders’ meeting today

By Saman Indrajith

The Opposition is expected to decide whether to boycott the ongoing debate on Budget 2022, after today’s party leaders’ meeting on a complaint that Galle District SJB MP, Manusha Nanyakkara, was roughed up in Parliament by government MPs, last Friday.

Chief Opposition Whip Kandy District SJB MP Lakshmkan Kiriella told The Island yesterday that the Opposition sought justice. “We see no point in attending Parliament if the Speaker continues to be partial and fails to act against those who violate Standing Orders and parliamentary traditions. Everybody knows what happened on Friday and the way our MP was treated. We fear for our safety in Parliament. We would not attend parliament unless our security is assured. Today, there is no freedom of speech in Parliament. We are planning to attend party leaders’ meeting at 8.30 Monday morning. If the government is not willing to change its ways and ensure our security, we will be left with no alternative but to boycott the budget debate.

SJB General Secretary and senior MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara said Chief Government Whip Highways Minister Johnston Fernando had usurped the powers of the Speaker. “We cannot tolerate this any longer. We cannot attend parliament if we are assaulted by government members who once carried out chilli-powder attacks and hurled chairs in the House. We will report this issue to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Union and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. I personally believe that we should boycott parliament until justice is done.”

TNA Jaffna District MP MA Sumanthiran said that he had been there in the Chamber when the incidents of alleged pushing of MP Nanayakkara took place. “Parliament session was to end at 5 pm but a time extension was granted. The presiding member gave 10 minutes to MP Nanayakkara to speak after 5 pm. The government side opposed it saying that the session should come to an end at

5 pm. The Speaker took the chair and ruled in accordance with the government wish and ordered that the sessions should stop. MP Nanayakkara proceeded to the Chair complaining of injustice meted out to him. At that time government members led by Chief Government Whip crossed the floor behind the Speaker’s Chair and some of them pushed MP Nanayakkara down. There was commotion and leveling of allegations and counter allegations. The government members say that MP Nanayakkara tried to attack the Speaker. I do not believe so. What I saw was that the violence was started by the government members.”

MP Sumanthiran said that the present situation in parliament with MPs resorting to violence had its origin in fracas inside the chamber during the time of 52-day government. “In the fracas during the 52-day saga there were incidents of hurling chairs, assaulting MPs and police officers and damaging the Speaker’s Chair. The MPs have the privilege of freedom of speech in the House. There is no privilege for assaulting other MPs. The whole country witnessed violent incidents by MPs in the House in 2018. Those incidents of violence should have been investigated and those responsible should have been dealt with as per the country’s laws. Such a thing did not happen as per understanding between two main parties. The UNP then is the SJB today. They too are responsible for the present situation because they did not push for action against those who broke the law in 2018. As per the present situation we will make our decision after Monday’s special party leaders’ meeting. There will be a TNA parliamentary group meeting after the party leaders’ meeting and we’ll make our decision,” MP Sumanthiran said.

JVP Propaganda Secretary MP Vijitha Herath said that they did not approve violence in the House. “We will decide whether we support the SJB’s call after Monday’s meeting of the party leaders.

Chief Government Whip Highways Minister Johnston Fernando said that SJB MP Manusha Nanayakkara had run to the Chair threatening the Speaker on Friday evening after he imposed a time limit for the debate in the House.

Speaking in Parliament on Saturday, Minister Fernando said: “The CCTV video footage of the incident would provide evidence and prove the aggressive behaviour of MP Nanayakkara and how he turned violent after the Speaker ruled against additional time. MP Nanayakkara ran to the Chair menacingly and it is our duty to protect the Speaker. I went there to defend the Speaker. An MP has no right to threaten the Speaker or a presiding member. Some of those in the opposition seem to think that they are the governing party in this House when they issue threats and demands to the Speaker.”

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Sri Lankan troops in joint anti-terrorist exercise in Russia

Published

2 mins ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

Sri Lanka troops in Russian exercise

The Defence Ministry said yesterday that Sri Lankan troops had participated in counter-terrorism exercise with Russian counterparts in Russia. The announcement was made after the conclusion of the exercise and the return of 75 personnel, including 20 officers, to Sri Lanka. The exercise included training in heli-rappelling, close-quarters battle, sniper fire, ambush operations and drone operations in the far east of Russia.

The contingent of 20 officers and 55 other ranks took part in Exercise Wolverine Path II, held at Vladivostok, from 18 to 25 September. The troops returned, through Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, on 28 September.

The Defence Ministry listed the training as counter-insurgency operations, tactical shooting, offensive and defensive manoeuvres, tactical medical training and the deployment of unmanned aerial systems.

“The training programme provided an opportunity for the participating troops to exchange operational experiences and training methodologies while developing their ability to operate together in diverse tactical scenarios,” the Ministry said.

News

Nine Indian poachers brought to KKS with their boat

Published

3 mins ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

Nine Indian fishermen and their fishing boat taken into custody by the Navy on 3 October for engaging in illegal fishing south of Delft Island, Jaffna, were brought to Kankesanthurai harbour yesterday (04) morning.

The Navy took the boat into custody after it crossed the International Maritime Boundary. The fishing boat and the nine fishermen have been handed over to the Jaffna District Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Department for legal action.

News

NPC warns catastrophic impact of Anojan death sentence and Thileepan removal by state

Published

18 mins ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

The National Peace Council (NPC) said that the death sentence imposed on Sri Lankan citizen Sivarasa Anojan in Saudi Arabia and the removal of the Thileepan statue in Jaffna are very different events that carry the risk of turning into grievances that affect entire communities. The NPC urged the government as well as political parties, civil society and religious leaders to ensure that this does not happen.

The text of the statement: “NPC welcomes the government’s efforts in the Anojan case and the appeals for clemency made by political and religious leaders, including Muslim leaders. We encourage Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and Christian leaders to express solidarity together. This would demonstrate that the life of a Sri Lankan citizen is a concern of all Sri Lankans, and that seeking mercy for him is not against any one religion. In particular, political, civil and religious leaders should reject attempts to turn the case into a source of anti-Muslim sentiment or collective blame. It is in this spirit that NPC joins the appeal for clemency for Anojan.

The Thileepan statue raises a different but related peacebuilding concern. Many Tamils attach deep significance to Thileepan, who died on 26 September 1987 after a twelve-day fast to protest the terms of the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord. The statue erected during this year’s commemoration was removed by police on 27 September. The government has raised legal concerns relating to the commemoration of a person associated with the LTTE, which remains a proscribed organisation. But the depth of Tamil anguish cannot be disregarded. For many Tamils, remembrance of Thileepan is connected to grief, loss and historical memory.

NPC notes that the Office for Reparations Act, No. 34 of 2018 provides for policies on memorialisation within its broader reparations framework. The government needs to engage the Office for Reparations and examine whether an appropriate form of memorialisation can be accommodated within the law. The JVP that now leads the NPP Government was itself once proscribed, later entered democratic politics, and now for many years has publicly commemorated its own fallen. The opportunity to remember those who died, while remaining within the law, should not belong to one community alone.

The cases involving Anojan and Thileepan give Sri Lanka an opportunity to demonstrate that it has learned from its past. Peacebuilding is the capacity to address today’s difficult issues in ways that prevent them from becoming tomorrow’s communal divisions. That is the real test of Sri Lanka’s continuing peace.”