{"id":77959,"date":"2022-06-10T00:18:16","date_gmt":"2022-06-10T04:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=77959"},"modified":"2022-06-10T21:16:51","modified_gmt":"2022-06-11T01:16:51","slug":"ranil-wickremesinghe-takes-issue-with-bcaloa-mp-shanakiyan-rasamanickams-may-20-speech-in-parliament-if-mp-does-not-withdraw-his-statement-by-next-week-the-speaker-must-investig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=77959","title":{"rendered":"Ranil Wickremesinghe Takes Issue with B\u2019caloa MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam\u2019s May 20 Speech in Parliament; If MP does not withdraw his statement by next week, the Speaker must investigate his remarks and put the matter before a committee says Prime Minister"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nA vote of condolence on a murdered Sri Lankan government MP on Friday (10) saw Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe calling for an inquiry on an opposition legislator and ex-PM Mahinda Rajapaksa claiming that the country\u2019s protesting youth have blood on their hands.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Noting the parliamentary tradition of a vote of condolence on a deceased MP, Wickremesinghe said it was regrettable that one MP had remained silent during Friday morning\u2019s round of speeches commemorating the life of MP Amarakeerthi Atukorale.<\/p>\n

Atukorale was murdered by a violent mob on May 09 on his way home from Colombo after an unprovoked attack on peaceful protestors by government supporters triggered a wave of retaliatory violence islandwide. The offices and private residences of a number of MPs, predominantly government, were torched my mobs around the country.<\/p>\n

Referring to the parliament\u2019s Hansard record for May 20, Wickremesinghe said opposition Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam had said the houses were burnt down for voting for bills harmful to the country such as the 20th amendment to the constitution and the 2021 budgets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis means that the houses were burnt because of an opposing view,\u201d said Wickremesinghe.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Wickremesinghe said opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) MP Kumar Welgama, an early and prominent critic of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, had not voted for any government bill. Welgama was assaulted by a mob in Homagama, but according to Wickremesinghe the attack was carried out not by residents but by outsiders. The prime minister said many investigations have pointed to outsider involvement in the arson attacks reported across the island.<\/p>\n

Wickremesinghe took issue with the tone of MP Rasamanickam\u2019s impassioned speech on May 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said \u2018it\u2019s because the people\u2019s mandate was betrayed that this happened. Remember that.\u2019 Remember that? How can an MP say that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Recalling past assassinations of parliamentarians such as former foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, WIckremesinghe said while those MPs had their critics outside the House, those inside were united in their condemnation of their murders irrespective of party difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow it\u2019s happening inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs he condoning these arson attacks? Is murder being condoned? Is the attack on Welgama being condoned?\u201d<\/p>\n

The premier also seemed to connect Rasamanickam, with a protest outside parliament, and the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), a breakaway faction of the opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) that some government MPs have accused of being behind the violence \u2013 an allegation the party denies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen parliament was surrounded, they came and said \u2018nothing happened to us\u2019. The previous day there is a picture with Kumar Gunaratnam of the FSP,\u201d said Wickremesinghe.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one opposes the FSP engaging in democratic work. But what about when they go beyond that?<\/p>\n

\u201cIs this what\u2019s happening in this parliament?\u201d
\nIf Rasamanickam does not withdraw his statement by next week, said the prime minister, the Speaker must investigate his remarks and put the matter before a committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch things cannot happen in this house,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Rasamanickam has yet to respond to the PM\u2019s speech. Since he was sworn in as prime minister, the TNA MP has become a harsh and vociferous critic of Wickremesinghe, suggesting that the latter had stepped up not to save Sri Lanka from its worsening economic crisis but to save the Rajapaksa family.”<\/p>\n

TNA MP M A Sumanthiran, too, has been openly critical of Wickremesinghe.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, former PM Mahinda Rajpaaksa, whose supporters triggered the orgy of violence on May 09, said the protestors have blood on their hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is true that the people are frustrated. It\u2019s true that they want to protest. But there are political forces directing people to violence. I believe MP Atukorale\u2019s murder took place as a result of this.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only was he stripped and beaten. His body wasn\u2019t allowed to be taken out either. It was also ordered to burn his body on the road,\u201d said Rajapaksa, recalling similar public executions that took place in Sri Lanka during the 1988\/\u201989 southern insurgency by the JVP.
\n\u201cWhat did he do to deserve that?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe never hurt anyone in the Aragalaya (\u2018the struggle\u2019, or people\u2019s protest) or anyone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn aragalaya that killed an innocent man like that can no longer be innocent. There\u2019s blood on their hands,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Courtesy:Economy Next<\/em><\/p>\n

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

A vote of condolence on a murdered Sri Lankan government MP on Friday (10) saw Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe calling for an inquiry on an opposition legislator and ex-PM Mahinda Rajapaksa claiming that the country\u2019s protesting youth have blood on their hands. Noting the parliamentary tradition of a vote of condolence on a deceased MP, …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Ranil Wickremesinghe Takes Issue with B\u2019caloa MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam\u2019s May 20 Speech in Parliament; If MP does not withdraw his statement by next week, the Speaker must investigate his remarks and put the matter before a committee says Prime Minister’ »<\/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\/77959"}],"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=77959"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77960,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77959\/revisions\/77960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}