Speaker denies presiding House when Thalatha subject to verbal sexual slur

Speaker's media unit today denied claims made by SJB MP Rohini Kavirathne that Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardane was presiding the House when SJB MP Thalatha Athukorala was subject to verbal sexual remarks during a debate in parliament.

It said in a statement that the Speaker was not presiding the House when that particular incident happened and that he was not anyway involved in the said incident.

The statement said the Speaker regretted for making such false statements disgracing the House and the Speaker and misleading the public without verifying the facts by checking the Hansard and video records.

The MP today claimed that the Speaker was presiding the House and did nothing when MP Athukorala had to encounter that embarrassment in Parliament.(AS & YP)