Inappropriately dressed MP leaves chambers

28 October 2016 08:34 am

Badulla District MP Aravindh Kumar who was wearing a dark orange shirt in Parliament was cautioned about his attire by the employees who were on duty inside the chambers yesterday.

Parliamentary sources said the employees had cautioned him saying, '"Sir your attire could cause an issue". Then the MP apparently left the chambers.

However Serjeant-at-Arms Anil Samarasekara said no one, including he and his deputy, had ordered the MP to leave the chambers.

He confirmed that the Parliamentary dress code does not allow dark coloured shirts for male MPs and said they had to wear either national dress or lounge suits when attending sessions. Female MPs must wear saris, he said.

There have been few occasions when MPs were ordered to leave the chambers as their attire was found to be inappropriate. The most recent instance concerned K Thangeswari who was ordered to leave when she came into the chambers wearing salwar kameez. A similar incident occurred when Srimani Athulathmudali came wearing a skirt and blouse in the 1990s. (Yohan Perera)