{"id":61741,"date":"2018-11-16T20:02:30","date_gmt":"2018-11-17T00:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=61741"},"modified":"2018-11-16T20:02:30","modified_gmt":"2018-11-17T00:02:30","slug":"president-sirisena-and-his-group-violated-their-promise-their-parliamentarians-behaved-like-beasts-not-like-human-beings-says-jvp-mp-vijitha-herath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=61741","title":{"rendered":"President Sirisena and his Group Violated Their Promise. Their parliamentarians Behaved Like Beasts, not Like Human Beings,\u201d Says JVP MP Vijitha Herath."},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Amidst furore and violence caused by his MPs in Parliament, Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday lost a trust vote for the third time this week.<\/p>\n

The no-confidence motions were taken up in the wake of Mr. Rajapaksa\u2019s controversial appointment as Prime Minister, replacing Ranil Wickremesinghe who was abruptly sacked by President Maithripala Sirisena three weeks ago. <\/p>\n

Former strongman Mr. Rajapaksa has however refused to accept the outcome of the first two motions \u2014 on his appointment and his address to Parliament \u2014 after failing to prove a majority in the House.<\/p>\n

President Sirisena, who has now realigned with Mr. Rajapksa, did not endorse the earlier votes, but had promised to accept Friday\u2019s vote. He is yet to acknowledge it or state his decision on future course, in the absence of a PM or cabinet.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dramatic sitting<\/strong><\/p>\n

The dramatic proceedings on Friday began with the lawmakers occupying the Speaker\u2019s chair for nearly an hour from 1.30 p.m., the time the session was scheduled to commence. The MPs ripped out the microphones and telephone chords at the Speaker\u2019s desk, and continued chanting slogans until about 30 policemen, locking arms in a chain, unexpectedly entered the chamber through the side door.<\/p>\n

Behind them, Parliament staff moved cautiously ahead, escorting the sergeant-at-arms who was holding up the mace \u2014 the ceremonial staff required to hold proceedings \u2014 that shone brightly in the muted yellow lights above.<\/p>\n

Standing firm<\/strong><\/p>\n

Right beside was Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, 78, clad in his black robe. Unable to occupy his seat, he stood firmly on the aisle and commenced proceedings through a microphone, in the face of heightening aggression from Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2019s MPs. The lawmakers flung wooden chairs, copies of the Constitution and water mixed with chilli powder towards the Speaker and the MPs seated across.<\/p>\n

Despite the attacks that came their way, the MPs who moved the confidence vote against Mr. Rajapaksa remained calm and chose not to retaliate. In rapid sequence, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran moved a motion to suspend the day\u2019s business, and it was passed by a voice vote.<\/p>\n

Immediately, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake moved a motion of no confidence against Mr. Rajapaksa \u2014 controversially installed as Prime Minister PM on October 26 \u2014 and his purported government. After JVP MP Vijitha Herath seconded it, the Speaker called for a vote. A loud chorus instantly emerged from the \u2018Opposition wing\u2019. \u201cThe Ayes will have it,\u201d the Speaker declared.<\/p>\n

Addressing Colombo-based foreign correspondents later in the evening, Mr. Wickremesinghe said the \u201canarchy and instability in the country\u201d had to end. \u201cWe have proved yet again that we have the numbers, and our side is willing to show a way out.\u201d Observing that he had never seen a day like this in the House, in his four decades as lawmaker, he said Friday\u2019s chaos was a \u201cblack chapter\u201d in the country\u2019s long parliamentary tradition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a deliberate breaking up of the Parliament by a group of people claiming to be the government\u2026 it was thuggery,\u201d he said, adding in jest: \u201cI hope this won\u2019t be a precedent for the Lok Sabha.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Mr. Jayasuriya declared the motion passed, aides of Mr. Rajapaksa claimed it was invalid, and accused the Speaker of bias.<\/p>\n

\u2018Won\u2019t prorogue House\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Thursday, following a similar assault on the Speaker, Mr. Sirisena assured the Speaker that he would ask the MPs to respect parliamentary proceedings and act responsibly.<\/p>\n

As violence escalated in the House on Friday, Mr. Sirisena tweeted at 2.13 p.m.: \u201cI urge all parliamentarians to uphold principles of democracy parliamentary traditions at all times. I will not prorogue the Parliament under any circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, little changed on the floor. At least 11 policeman, and three lawmakers seated in front row suffered wounds in the attacks. JVP\u2019s Vijitha Herath suffered a cut on his forehead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe President and his group violated their promise. Their parliamentarians behaved like beasts, not like human beings,\u201d Mr. Herath told The Hindu, minutes after the sitting ended, with an adjournment until November 19.<\/strong><\/em>
\n
\nCourtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan Amidst furore and violence caused by his MPs in Parliament, Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday lost a trust vote for the third time this week. The no-confidence motions were taken up in the wake of Mr. Rajapaksa\u2019s controversial appointment as Prime Minister, replacing Ranil Wickremesinghe who was abruptly sacked by President Maithripala Sirisena …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘President Sirisena and his Group Violated Their Promise. Their parliamentarians Behaved Like Beasts, not Like Human Beings,\u201d Says JVP MP Vijitha Herath.’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61741"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61741"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61742,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61741\/revisions\/61742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}