Live telecast of expunged unparliamentary conduct and ipad, laptop use in House contested

Speaker faults Finance Ministry officials for delay in submitting related Bills of 2013 Budget proposals

Whether Parliamentary proceedings should be telecast Live and should the use of electronic gadgets such as laptops and iPads, within the Chambers, be regulated, was hotly debated in the House last Thursday, after the Government raised a privilege issue of the telecast over a private television station, of a heated exchange between Housing and Construction Minister Wimal Weerawansa and UNP Colombo District MP Sujeewa Senesinghe.

UPFA National List MP A.H.M. Azwer who raised the issue, al-

We have to see if new laws are needed to cover the electronic media, but we have discussed for long, and both sides have agreed that live telecast of proceedings be allowed.”

UNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe

leged that the particular part of the proceedings had been expunged by Deputy Chairman of Committees, Chandra Kumar Murugesu who was presiding over sittings at the time, which had been disregarded, with an unedited version of the argument aired by the station.

The two clashed on Tuesday, with allegations of bribe-taking flying to and fro, and a great deal of “unparliamentary” words exchanged between them.

When the issue of the telecast was raised by MP Azwer, Chief Government Whip Minister Di- nesh Gunawardena too referred to the incident as a “very serious matter”. “We are all bound to uphold the decorum of this House. All of us have to protect Parliament. This is a question of Parliamentary privileges being violated,” he said.

Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe pointed out that Parliament (Powers and Privileges) Act provides for action to be taken against the print media for publication of statements expunged from the official report of Parliamentary Debates, the Hansard, or for publication of any de- famatory statement reflecting on the proceedings and the character of Parliament, but there is no law in place that binds the electronic media to such rules.

“We have to see if new laws are needed to cover the electronic media, but we have discussed for long, and both sides have agreed that live telecast of proceedings be allowed. This is one way of overcoming such issues, and discussions should now be held on how the necessary arrangements can be made,” he said.

Chief Whip Gunawardena too said that the Government was in favour of Live telecast. “The issue is how we could get into live telecasting and broadcasting, and how we can get funding. This is an issue pending for some time, and the Speaker has given his attention to it,” he said.

However, a suggestion by MP Azwer that the use of laptops, ipads, etc. within the Chamber by MPs, should be banned, did not gain support from the Oppo- sition Leader. “The MPs use these electronic devices to gather information and there is no reason to stop them,” Mr. Wickremesinghe said.

However, Minister Gunawardena said that the Speaker had given permission, in good faith, for these electronic devices to be brought into the Chamber, but if they were being used to record proceedings of the House, and were being sent out, it was a serious matter

he arguments ended with Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody assuring that an inquiry would be held to ascertain if expunged parts of the proceedings were telecast over the television station and corrective action taken.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Speak- er Chamal Rajapaksa faulted Finance Ministry officials for the delay in bringing Finance Bills connected to this year’s Budget proposals, before Parliament, and waiting till the last minute to send them to the House for approval.

“The Budget was approved on December 8 last year, and the Bills are being brought just when the financial year is to end,” the Speaker said, while making a ruling on questions raised by Opposition members of the validity of the 21 Bills that were hurriedly introduced in the House on March 8 .

Five of these Bills were approved by Parliament on Wednesday, while the rest were to be taken up in the first week of April, after the Supreme Court determination on the constitutionality of the Bills is sent to the Speaker.