Ports and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe yesterday said that there was a sinister plan to invite members of the diplomatic corps and foreign journalists to Parliament and instigate a clash within the Chamber in their presence to create an international slur on the country.
Addressing the media at the SLFP Headquarters yesterday, Minister Samarasinghe said that some UNP MPs stated that there is going to be a bloodbath on November 14 and they challenged the government to convene Parliament according to the standing orders.
“These plans aroused some sort of suspicion in the President’s mind about a possibility of damaging the country’s image and an illegal functioning of Parliament. Therefore, finally he decided that the dissolution of Parliament was the only solution for all these issues,” the Minister said. According to the President, one of the main reasons for the dissolution of Parliament was the behaviour of the Speaker.
“Speaker Karu Jayasuriya who acted beyond his Constitutional powers met several ambassadors and tried to mislead them by showing only the English copy of the Constitution,” Minister Samarasinghe said. “By doing that, he only wanted to accomplish his political objectives and he didn’t think about the damage done by him to the country’s image,” the Minister said.
President Sirisena never expected this type of behaviour from the Speaker and his politically biased behaviour aroused a suspicion whether he would acted beyond the Standing Orders.
“The Speaker summoned three Party Leaders’ meetings and during these meetings he showed a file and claimed that there was a document signed by 116 MPs and because of that he wanted to hold a vote on the same day Parliament reconvened. But he never showed us the document,” he charged.
Commenting on a media release issued by the former Speaker stating that he is the one who decides the legitimacy of the decisions by the President, the Minister said that it is questionable whether he was appointed to the Supreme Court recently.
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