Speaker speaks out against unruly behaviour by some MPs

It's three months since Parliament adopted a Code of Conduct for MPs, but that hasn’t made things easier for Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. This week, once again, and for the umpteenth time, the Speaker had to remind the country’s Parliamentarians on the need to behave in a manner befitting the high office they hold, and desist from behaving in a manner which does little to improve their image in the eyes of the public.

The latest words of advice from the Speaker came on Friday when, at the start of the day’s proceedings, he told the House that his attention had been drawn to the unparliamentary behaviour of several MPs who, earlier in the week, had verbally abused Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and several other MPs.

“I went through the Hansard of March 22 and found that abusive language has been used against the Prime Minister as well as several other MPs. If an MP wishes to raise matters against a fellow parliamentarian, they can do so under Standing Orders of Parliament, without resorting to such behaviour,” the Speaker said.

Both Standing Orders of Parliament and the Code of Conduct have the same objectives namely, of raising the standards of debates within the House, elicit better behaviour from MPs and make the time spent by lawmakers within the Legislature more productive for public good.

The Code of Conduct states, "The Members shall exercise civility and use appropriate language in political discourse and specially in Parliamentary debate. No Member shall assault, harass or intimidate any person, and every Member shall act in a manner that is respectful of his fellow Members and the Parliamentary Staff and people of the country, with dignity, courtesy and without diminishing the dignity of the Parliament.”

Though unanimously adopted by the House, these very rules that the very MPs violate time and again, while the Speaker tries hard to ensure they don’t break the rules.

“I urge the MPs to strictly stick to the subject under discussion and not use the time to hurl personal insults at each other,” he said.

While to the credit of Speaker Jayasuriya it can be said that, he has been very accommodating in his role, allowing for all voices to be heard, before taking a final decision on many issues, it has, at times also led to a situation where some MPs use it to disturb the proceedings of the House and distract from the business at hand.

A case in point, in the past couple of weeks, is related to UPFA MP Wimal Weerawansa, now in remand custody. His request, that his political party, the National Freedom Front (NFF), a constituent party of the UPFA, be recognised as separate entity in the House, was turned down by the Speaker, and rightly so, as, according to the results of the 2015 Parliamentary elections, only representatives of six political parties were elected to the House.

Whereas in the past, Lawmakers accepted the word or ruling by the Speaker, as the last word, this no longer seems to be the case, as was evident by the ugly scenes in the House on March 8, when UPFA (Joint Opposition Group Leader MP Dinesh Gunawardena had to be suspended from the House for a week, by a resolution of Parliament, over the furore he caused over the non-recognition of the NFF as a separate party. Had Mr Gunawardena withdrawn in a dignified manner, when he was named by the Speaker, the drama that ensued, which included summoning police personnel into the Chamber, could have been avoided. But it was not so.

When Speaker Jayasuriya reminds MPs of the need to uphold the dignity of the House, MPs should pay more heed to his words than ever before, because proceedings are now telecast live, so that, voters across the country can see how those they voted into office, behave. And while, Parliamentary democracy is what people in this country have kept faith in, for close to a decade, there is no doubt that the public at large are beginning to view the antics that MPs resort to as juvenile. Turning this around rests on a no-nonsense approach on the part of the Speaker, as much as better behaviour, especially, from senior Lawmakers.