By

Prasad Gunewardene

The Mace is the symbol of authority of Parliament. It signifies the authority and responsibilities entrusted upon the Speaker who is the Guardian of all Parliamentarians.

The walk up to the Speaker’s podium by the Sergeant-at-Arms on days that Parliament sits with the Mace on his shoulder is a tradition and respect that announces the day’s sittings. When it is placed on the special holder it remains as the symbol of authority of Parliament.

When the Speaker sits in the Chair, the Mace stands in front of him indicating the House is in progress. Hence, the Mace signifies that all Members should respect the Chair during proceedings. The Mace is also the instrument that indicates the supremacy of the legislature. New Members of Parliament or even for that matter some senior Members may be unaware of the importance of the Mace.

At present, we are in an era where elected Members of Parliament are quite ignorant even to important provisions of the Standing Orders that guide parliamentary sessions. Had they were aware of those Standing Orders, unnecessary interruptions could have been avoided to save time during sessions? Many of them do not know how and when to raise a Point of Order under the existing Standing Orders. That is also a tragedy we often witness during parliamentary proceedings.

Be that as it may, we have many parliamentarians counting over twenty five years continuing in the present House who conduct themselves with discipline, dignity and decorum. Having covered Parliament for several newspapers as a Lobby Columnist from the day these experienced Members entered Parliament, my friend Dinesh Gunawardene, son of the illustrious legend in politics Philip Gunawardene, was outstanding in the conduct of parliamentary business over the past quarter century. Philip was a venerated parliamentarian of the golden era of parliamentary politics.

Dinesh is a senior Member with fine debating skills well versed with Standing Orders of Parliament. He was a fine Leader for the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) in the 1989 Parliament when the ‘Three Gunawardenes – Dinesh, Bandula and Geethanjana” represented the House. Dinesh challenged the strong UNP Government of President Ranasinghe Premadasa without fear ably backed by LSSP firebrand Vasudeva Nanayakkara, C.V. Gooneratne, Nimal Siripala de Silva and Jeyaraj Fernandopulle of the SLFP Opposition. Dinesh would certainly recall those glorious days and the bouquets paid to him by Speaker M.H. Mohamed, Deputy Speaker Gamini Fonseka and Deputy Chairman of Committees Rauff Hakeem for his exemplary conduct in the House when arrogant UNP MPs attempted to suppress his voice.

Highly respected

Dinesh is a highly respected intelligent Parliamentarian. He is gifted with a whipping tone that could outmart hundred tones together from any side. Another we had like that in the August Assembly was late Richard Pathirana. With all those abilities embedded in the personality of Dinesh Gunawardene, I was surprised and shocked to read last week that this senior Parliamentarian and former Chief Government Whip ran away with the Mace over a minor issue like allocation of insufficient time to Opposition speakers. The Speaker, Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Chairman of Committees had not been present. A novice MP, Mujibur Rahman had been the Chair. As usual he had read the list of names of the speakers given to him. Here again, ‘naughty’ Wimal Weerawansa had fuelled the incident by raising an unwanted Point of Order. And, Dinesh had intervened on behalf of the Opposition. Wimal is a man who likes sensation inside and outside Parliament.

Dinesh was perfectly correct in arguing that it was the duty of the Chair to safeguard the rights of the Opposition. But what could Dinesh expect from a novice like Mujibur Rahaman in the Chair just reading out a list of names given to him in parrot style? Instead he could have applied other methods by requesting the Chair to call a Party Leaders meeting to discuss that important issue. As a former Minister, Senior Parliamentarian and former Chief Government Whip Dinesh should not have grabbed the Mace to take it away. Dinesh is a high calibre Member in Parliament compared to those who surrounded him after he took the Mace. My friend Dinesh is abreast with Standing Orders and the Gospel of Parliament embodied in ‘Erskine May’. He together with his classmate late Anura Bandaranaike taught Erskine May to many UNP Government members in the 1989 Parliament during heated debates.

Being a parliamentary firebrand is good if the Member upholds dignity and decorum of Parliament. Intelligent Parliamentarians should conduct themselves in a unique manner when people look upto them as fountains of knowledge. Burning of documents, throwing books at each other, sleeping in the ‘well’, using abusive language, engaging in fisticuffs or running away with the Mace is not parliamentary politics. It was a sad and shocking state of affairs in Parliament last week when Dinesh took the Mace away. The Mace in a way is the ‘Parliamentary Crest’ of all Members. Therefore, all Members should respect it as they have done and continue to do for their school crest.

Courtesy:Ceylon Today