Ratnapura District Parliamentarian Ranjith De Zoysa yesterday, said that they were not boycotting Parliament. “We were only boycotting the Speaker,” he said.
He said so on being questioned as to what they have to say about the criticism levelled against them by the members of the United National Party that they are the only government in the world to have avoided taking sittings in Parliament.
Zoysa said, “This is the only Parliament in the world where the Speaker is acting as if he holds the powers of the President.”
The Speaker and that the UNP members who take sittings in this Parliament are carrying out Parliamentary proceedings overriding the Standing Orders of Parliament and the Constitution.
During their sessions recently, UNP MP Lakshman Kiriella extended his appreciation to Speaker Jayasuriya for stabilizing the country, which is the job of the President and his Cabinet.
UNP MP Nalin Bandara went on to call President a Gamarala and other MPs put forth proposals against the media. The Speaker was to admit them.
If we did take sittings in Parliament as such, it could have been a misdemeanor inflicted by us on the proud history of Sri Lanka’s Parliament since 1831.
“No Speaker in its history has done so much of damage to its traditions,” he said.