Rs. 5 million spent on most disgraceful brawl in Parliament
Party leaders met on Wednesday after the “dishonourable” conduct displayed by some honourable members of Parliament to discuss whether disciplinary action should be taken against those who were seen to be behaving in a rowdy way.
No decision was taken, but Parliament sources say Speaker Karu Jayasuirya is likely to warn some MPs when Parliament meets next.
Wednesday’s ugly scenes once again raised questions about the colossal amount of public funds that go into each parliamentary session, only to have MPs behave in an unruly manner. The Campaign for Free and Fair Elections ( CaFFE) pointed out that Wednesday’s multi- MP brawl was the latest in a long line of such incidents.
Interestingly, former minister Gamini Lokuge, one of the chief actors involved in Wednesday’s fracas, was part of a group that roughed up leftist l e a d e r Va s u d e v a Nanayakkara in a similar incident around 1992- 1993, while Mr Nanayakkara was trying to make off with the Parliament Mace. In an example of turncoats and political fickleness, Mr. L o k u ge and Mr. Nanayakkara now find themselves on the same side in the Joint Opposition (JO).
CaFFE also accused the Government of orchestrating the brawl with the aim of diverting attention from the Treasury bond issue. It also alleged that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had directly supported the action.
Some MPs who did not get involved in the brawl voiced concern on social media. United National Party ( UNP) MP and Deputy Minister Harsha de Silva said he had been told that never in history had there been such a brawl in the Chamber as the one witnessed on Wednesday. Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake said that about Rs.5 million in public funds was spent to run Parliament on a daily basis. “They don't care, they will leave even after taking the daily attendance allowance,” he said, adding that he was referring to “all MPs who make trouble,” irrespective of the party.
Wednesday's special sitting was supposed to see the tabling of the report compiled by the Commission of Inquiry into the Treasury bond issue. With the President’s office informing the Speaker that copies of the report would not be available till next week, tempers, which had already been running high, exploded when Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe rose to make a special statement.
In the end, fists, missiles and filthy language were thrown in abundance as UNP and JO MPs got into a free-for-all in the well of Parliament.
Shouts of ‘ Hora Hora, Ranil Hora’ ( Thief, thief, Ranil is a thief) from the JO elicited the response ‘ Hora Hora, Mahinda Hora’ (Thief, thief, Mahinda is a thief) from the UNP. The shouting match ultimately resulted in a brawl. MPs also hurled books, pens and files.
Among those seen to be involved in the brawl were MPs S . M . M a r i k k a r, Chaminda Wijesiri and Hector Appuhamy from the UNP and Gamini Lokuge, Prasanna Ranaweera and Prasanna Ranatunga from the JO. A number of MPs from both sides received minor injuries.
Several female MPs too became unwittingly caught up in the melee while trying to calm down their male colleagues.