Speaker tells women's assembly: ‘I had to suspend your guest of honour’
A move by the newly established car assembly plant in Kurunegala to obtain duty free concessions has failed.
The assembly plant, once touted as a factory to assemble Volkswagen cars, wanted a string of duty concessions. A ministerial source said those concessions would have not only deprived revenue to the state but placed the assembly plant at an advantage over others.
Whilst the Cabinet of Ministers has decided that “action need not be pursued for the time being,” but a Cabinet Sub Committee should be appointed to probe the entire issue of duty concessions.
The subcommittee will be headed by Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva and include Sarath Amunugama, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Ravi Karunanayake and Patali Champika Ranawaka.
Thousands of Sri Lankans watched live on television the March 8 Parliament fracas that saw the suspension of ‘Joint Opposition’ leader Dinesh Gunawardena.
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya originally wanted to suspend him for ‘unruly behaviour’ for just that day, but eventually barred him for a week on a motion moved by the UNP when Mr Gunawardena continued to defy the Speaker’s order to sit.
That same evening, the two gentlemen, Speaker Jayasuriya and MP Gunawardene were the chief guest and the guest of honour respectively at an International Women’s Day event at Kingsbury Hotel.
Ironically, Yadamini Gunawardena, the ‘Joint Opposition’ parliamentary leader’s son had rung the organisers of the event earlier that day. He had checked whether “Mr Karu Jayasuriya is coming?” (for the event). Later, even an advance security team of Mr Gunawardena had arrived at the hotel.
In Parliament, pandemonium reigned. The Karu Jayasuriya-Dinesh Gunawardene dispute was big news on all news chan- nels. But the women at the event were oblivious to what was happening in the august assembly; they were more interested in their own assembly-to-be.
Having sent Gunawardene packing home, a relaxed Jayasuriya turned up at Kingsbury Hotel and told the main organiser of the event “I had to suspend your guest of honour”. There was no show by the ‘Joint Opposition’ leader who was busy holding news conferences condemning his ouster from the House, but disappointing the event organisers. It was therefore a near ‘one man show’ at Kingsbury Hotel with Speaker Jayasuriya remarking he has never before been surrounded by so many lovely ladies.
Meanwhile, Mr. Gunawardene is due to make his ‘debut’ in Parliament once again on Tuesday.