Uproar over one month suspension of 3 MPs involved in parliament lobby brawl
There was uproar in Parliament yesterday as the House voted in favour of implementing the recommendations of Committee on Ethics and Privileges to suspend three MPs involved in a brawl in Parliamentary Lobby for a one month period.
State Minister Diana Gamage, along with Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MPs Sujith Sanjaya Perera and Rohana Bandara were accordingly suspended from attending Parliament sittings for one month from yesterday. The three were punished over the much publicised confrontation that took place in Parliament’s Lobby on October 20.
The motion came to a vote after SJB MPs vehemently protested over the decision by the Ethics and Privileges Committee to suspend all three MPs for one month
Sujith Sanjaya PererDiana Gamaga Rohana Bandara a
when the special committee that Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena had appointed to probe the matter had recommended vastly different penalties.
The special committee, which was headed by Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakshe, had unanimously recommended that State Minister Gamage be suspended for three months. A majority of the Committee had decided that MP Sujith Sanjaya Perera should be issued a stern warning by the Speaker for
his reaction during the confrontation while MP Rohana Bandara, who had shared video of the incident on social media, should be suspended for two weeks.
The Parliamentary Committee on Ethics and Privileges chaired by former Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa however, had recommended that all three Members be suspended for one month. SJB MPs were livid over the change, and accused the government of misusing its majority on the Committee on Ethics and Privileges to disregard the recommendations of the Deputy Speaker’s committee and suspend all three MPs for one month; effectively reducing the punishment given to State Minister Gamage and increasing the punishments for MPs Perera and Bandara.
When the motion was presented to Parliament last morning, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced that the suspension would come into force with immediate effect. Opposition SJB members strongly objected to the move prompting the Speaker to call for a vote.
Fifty-seven MPs voted in favour of the motion while three Members abstained and one Member voted against. SJB MPs though, walked out of the Chamber at the time of the vote.