Children ushered out of Parliament before ugly scenes

The appalling standards of behaviour exhibited by the esteemed representatives of the people were again on show in this week’s Parliament sessions which saw one MP suspended for a month and an inquiry launched into an alleged assault on another.

On Thursday, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena suspended Gampaha District Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Ajith Mannapperuma for four weeks for serious misconduct after the MP made an attempt to grab the Mace, the symbol of the authority of Parliament.

Mr. Mannapperuma became incensed when Public Security Minister Tiran Alles said he would table his answer to a question raised by the MP rather than read it out aloud. This was because the time allocated for oral questions and answers had elapsed.

The move to strictly adhere to the one-hour time limit for questions has been a bone of contention between the government and opposition benches for several weeks now, with the government insisting that its ministers will not be around to answer questions after the time allocated for questions had lapsed. Opposition MPs have argued that this violates their right to raise questions.

Mr. Mannapperuma and several opposition MPs gathered in the Well of the House in protest at the decision to table the answer and it was then that the incident occurred. The chaos played out in full view of Parliament’s public gallery, which was filled with dozens of children and teachers from several schools. As the situation was unfolding, Parliament staff acted quickly to usher the students and teachers out of the gallery, but the damage had already been done, further eroding the public’s respect for their representatives. It would have been a memorable outing anyway for the school children.

But this was not the end. On Friday, State Minister Diana Gamage accused SJB MP Sujith Sanjaya Perera of assaulting her in Parliament’s lobby during an altercation that also involved SJB MP Rohana Bandara.

The accusation prompted the Chair to suspend sittings for 10 minutes on a request by Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

Video of the alleged altercation, shot by MP Rohana Bandara, has now been released. Both sides have accused the other of starting the altercation. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has appointed a five-member committee chaired by Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakshe to probe the matter.

Ironically, the clash came as Parliament was debating an adjournment motion on the Israel-Palestinian conflict and was urging the United Nations to call for an immediate ceasefire between all parties.