The Sri Lankan Parliament on Monday witnessed uproar following the protest by a section of MPs, owing allegiance to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, against the summons issued by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption to Mr. Rajapaksa.
As the MPs rushed to the well of the House as a mark of protest and commenced a sit-in ‘dharna,’ Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa adjourned the House to Tuesday, when the 19th Constitutional Amendment Bill was expected to be taken up for discussion. The agitation was underway for over eight hours at the time of filing of this report.
According to reports in the local media, 55 Opposition MPs submitted a memorandum to President Maithripala Sirisena.
The former President had been issued the summons on the ground that Tissa Attanayake, who quit as general secretary of the United National Party (UNP) in December last and became Health Minister in the then Rajapaksa regime, was given the post on the eve of the Presidential election, which took place in January.
The Monday’s development has led to uncertainty over the passage of the Bill, which broadly envisages dilution of several powers of the office of President
General secretary of the ruling UNP, Kabir Hashim, who is also Minister of Highways and Investment Promotion, told The Hindu that the constitutional reforms had been the choice of people, as reflected in the Presidential election early this year, and “we believe that any public representative would have to abide by the wishes of the people.” He added that the President was also talking to a section of the SLFP to support the Bill.