A job well done: MPs heap farewell praise on Serjeant-at-Arms
After the passage of the Online Safety Bill, MPs from both sides came together on Wednesday evening to pay tribute to Serjeant-at-Arms Narendra Fernando, who will be retiring on January 30 after more than 42 years of Parliamentary service.
Presenting the motion of appreciation, House Leader Susil Premajayantha commended Mr. Fernando's more than four decades of dedicated service to the country’s legislature.
Mr. Premajayantha noted that, as Serjeant-at-Arms, Mr. Fernando had done his utmost to ensure that Parliamentary sessions could be conducted even in the most difficult circumstances. Even when the electricity supply to Parliament was cut off due to floods, Mr. Fernando assisted in ensuring that Parliament sessions could be conducted by candlelight, said Mr. Premajayantha.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena praised the efforts Mr. Fernando took as Serjeant-at-Arms to safeguard the Parliament complex and Parliamentarians in challenging times. He recalled how Mr. Fernando coordinated expertly with security agencies to ensure the safety of MPs and the Parliament complex during the Aragalaya period, when Parliament was under threat of being stormed and burnt down.
Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakse said Mr. Fernando had faced more challenges during the more than five years he served as Serjeant-at-Arms than any other official who held the post before him. There were many occasions where he had to go beyond the call of duty to protect Parliament, and the example he set should serve his junior officers in good stead, Mr. Rajapakse said.
Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena praised Mr. Fernando for leading by example during the challenges Parliament encountered over the years. He recalled Mr. Fernando's efforts to protect Parliament when it was flooded and the work he did to securely conduct Parliament sittings during the COVID pandemic.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa described Mr. Fernando as highly skilled in many fields. He recalled that Mr. Fernando was serving as the Speaker’s personal assistant at the time Parliament faced a bomb attack in 1987 and the steps he took to prevent damage to valuable books and documents when the Parliament complex was threatened by floods in 1992 and 2010.
Mr. Premadasa also recalled how the Serjeant-at-Arms worked successfully to overcome challenges during the 52-day Constitutional Crisis in 2018.
Many other party leaders and MPs from both sides of the aisle spoke in appreciation of Mr. Fernando’s services and joined the entire House in wishing him well on his retirement.
An old boy of Isipathana College, Colombo, Narendra Mihindukumara Fernando has a degree in Human Resources Management from India. He followed in the footsteps of his father, who was an Assistant Hansard Editor in Parliament. Mr. Fernando joined Parliament service as a clerk in 1981 and served for 20 years in various capacities in many offices coming under Parliament’s Administration Department. He was appointed Assistant Serjeant-at-Arms in 2000 and Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms in 2002. He was appointed as Parliament’s sixth Serjeant-at-Arms on September 1, 2018.