13 March 2017 03:32 pm
He said Speaker Jayasuriya, who is a respected person, is being severely criticized for suspending Joint Opposition Leader MP Dinesh Gunawardena from Parliament for a week.
“The resolve of the Speaker to suspend MP Gunawardena is biased as he didn’t even allow the MP to express his voice in Parliament. We, MPs, don’t attend Parliament with the intention of creating ruckus. We are compelled to express our opinion when there is any incident of injustice,” the MP told a news conference.
He said the duty of the Speaker is to save the Opposition MPs from being suppressed by the government and to protect the sovereignty of Parliament from the influence of the Executive.
However, the MP said Speaker Jayasuriya was helpless and that he had been appointed as Speaker in an attempt to reduce his popularity and to put him in a difficult position.
Commenting on Friday’s tense situation in Parliament where government MPs left Chambers in opposition to allowing three joint opposition MPs to speak, he said the incident had been scripted.
“This is a false attempt to show that the Speaker is unbiased. Why couldn’t he have act in the same manner and allowed MP Gunawardena to speak in Parliament the day before? Following the MP’s suspension, there was severe criticism over Speaker’s decision. Therefore, the Speaker and the Government wanted to show that the Speaker is unbiased,” he said. (Lahiru Pothmulla)