Parliament sitting suspended for ten minutes

11 December 2015 11:04 am

Parliamentary sessions were thrown into chaos and on the verge of fisticuffs with some opposition MPs attempting to assault government MP Mujibur Rahaman when he made a statement on the killing of rugby player Waseem Thajudeen.

"Those who killed Thajudeen are shouting in Parliament today," Mr Rahaman said while Opposition MPs objected to this statement saying it was a matter being taken up in Court.

MP Edward Gunesekara who was in the chair advised Mr Rahaman to refrain from referring to any matter connected to the case. Mr. Rahaman continued to speak when three MPs including Johnston Fernando and Sarath Nishantha rushed towards Mr. Rahaman in a rage.

Deputy Ministers Harsha De Silva, Suneewa Senasinghe and several others rushed towards the MPs and prevented what could have turned out to be a physical clash. The House was adjourned for a brief period.

However, chaos prevailed when the sessions began with Speaker Karu Jayasuriya saying he will look at the video clips and give a ruling but Opposition MP Dinesh Gunawardane and several others insisted that Mr. Rahaman should withdraw the statement while the Speaker insisting that the committee stage debate should continue resulting in the opposition MPs rushed to the well of the House

A physical clash was averted once again when few MPs stood between Minister Naveen Dissanayake and Johnson Fernando who almost hit each other.

MPs on both sides of the House had later cooled down and were seen exchanging friendly gestures.

The Speaker later expunged the statement made by Mr. Rahaman on Thajudeen's killing. (YP)