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SPEAKER LOKUBANDARA ADMITS IN AN INTERVIEW THAT HE HAS LOST CONTROL OF THE PROCEEDINGS IN THE LANKA PARLIAMENT
By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
June 11, 11.45 AM: The Speaker of Sri Lanka’s parliament , W.J.M. Lokubandara admitted that he has lost control, of the proceedings of the House and said a handful of parliamentarians were behaving as cheaters or criminals (thakkadi) and terrorists in the parliament.
Modeled after the same named office in the Westminster Parliament of the United Kingdom, which is considered the mother Parliament, usually the Speaker is considered as the protector of all parliamentarians, regardless of party politics and the office holder controls the Parliament most of the time not by wielding power but by being impartial and winning the respect of both sides of the House that tends all members to obey his orders.
Pandemonium reigned four times since the new parliament assembled and most of the times disobedience of Speakers orders was the cause of the pandemonium. Out of control and party leaders unable to come to a compromise proposed by the Speaker, the next session of the Parliament now has been postponed until July 20.
In an unprecedented attack against his own Members of Parliament in public, the Speaker of the House, who admittedly has lost control and respect of the House said in a BBC Sandeshaya interview that the disobedience was limited to only a handful of parliamentarians and did not name names.
The United Kingdom parliament stipulates the impartiality of the Speaker thus: “The Speaker must, of course be above party political controversy and must be seen to be completely impartial in all public matters. All sides in the House rely on the Speaker’s disinterest and respect that he or she must stand aside from controversy. Accordingly, on election, the Speaker resigns from his or her political party. Even after retirement, a former Speaker will take no part in political issues, and if appointed in the House of Lords will sit as a Crossbencher. Assuming the office of Speaker will, to a great extent, mean shedding all old loyalties and friendship within the House. The Speaker must keep apart of all party colleagues or any one group or interest and does not, for instance, frequent the Commons dining rooms or bars.”
But unfortunately, due to the highly politically charged election of the Speaker, W.J.M. Lokubandara has been the center of all controversies in the new parliament. An old protégé of former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe he has been charged of following the legal luminary of the United National Party, former Minister Ravi Karunanayaka’s day by day instructions to work for the downfall of the present government.
Obviously, under obligation to the Jathika Hela Urumaya, by whose deciding vote he won the Speaker ship, a rebel JHU parliamentarian has charged that he was aiding and abetting in the kidnapping and submitting of a letter of resignation under duress of another dissident JHU parliamentarian to cut down the number of votes available to the present government in the parliament. When the allegedly kidnapped parliamentarian sought the protection of the law and produced a well publicized interim injunction , he completely disregarded that claiming he was officially not in the know. But the lawyer of the dissident JHU parliamentarian said the Speaker and the Secretary General of the Parliament, Priyani Wijesekera was informed about the interim order of the courts, preventing a replacement JHU MP from swearing in as a replacement MP. A JVP Member of Parliament , Wimal Weerawansa has charged the Secretary General and the Speaker were working hand in glove( Thakata Thaka) with bias and bad intentions.
In the BBC Sandeshaya interview , Lokubandara said, in the scuffle that took place in the parliament some parliamentarians have openly violated Criminal law and they should remember that the parliamentary privileges were not to cover crimes but to protect the parliamentary activities of the members.
But government parliamentarians have alleged that Lokubandara has openly violated the common law of the country by disregarding an order of the courts preventing a certain person from taking oaths and was showing a bad example to the others.
Lokubandara threatened that no one who violated law would get any leniency from him.
( go2lanka.com) 