Sri Lankan Parliament disrupted again, adjourned until Monday

President Sirisena says he will not ‘prorogue Parliament under any circumstances.’

A trash can thrown towards speaker Karu Jayasuriya, seated and partly visible, by Sri Lankan lawmakers supporting disputed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa at the parliament chamber in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s Parliament witnessed chaos for the second day on Friday as MPs loyal to disputed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa occupied the seat of Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and shouted slogans, forcing him to summon police inside the House and adjourning the session until Monday.

The brawl occurred a day after the Speaker announced there is no prime minister or government following a no-confidence motion against Mr. Rajapaksa.

Friday’s proceedings were to repeat the floor test, which was disrupted on Thursday.

President Maithripala Sirisena, who

installed Mr. Rajapaksa as prime minister last month in a controversial move, had agreed for a floor test with the leaders of ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s coalition during crisis talks last night.

Rajapaksa's MPs take over Speaker seat

The MPs supporting Mr. Rajapaksa took over the seat of the Speaker, delaying the proceedings, officials said. They shouted slogans against Mr. Jayasuriya.

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The Speaker summoned the police inside Parliament chamber after 45 minutes of disruption. One of the rioting MPs Arundika Fernando occupied the seat of the Speaker with more MPs surrounding it.

 

Gamini Jayawickrema Perera, a senior parliamentarian, was injured in the melee.

The rioting United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) members demanded the arrest of two legislators of the Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP). They charged that Palitha Thewarapperuma and Ranjan Ramanayake were carrying knives during the Thursday brawl .

On Thursday, UPFA MP Dilum Amunugama was injured in clashes inside the chamber.

Police on Friday protected Mr. Jayasuriya from the rioting MPs as he called the Tamil National Alliance lawmaker MA Sumanthiran to propose the suspension of the standing orders. Mr. Jayasuriya on the basis of a voice vote announced that the motion against Mr. Rajapaksa was defeated as physical voting could not take place due to the brawl.

MPs hurl books at police

The rioting MPs threw books at the police. Mr. Jayasuriya immediately suspended the sittings until November 19 and left the House surrounded by police.

President Sirisena said that he would not ‘prorogue Parliament under any circumstances.’

“I urge all parliamentarians to uphold principles of democracy parliamentary traditions at all times. I will not prorogue Parliament under any circumstances,” he tweeted.

Trouble erupted in Parliament on Thursday when the Speaker agreed to a request from ousted Mr. Wickremesinghe’s UNP that a vote be taken on a statement made by Mr. Rajapaksa demanding fresh polls.

Mr. Jayasuriya allowed Mr. Rajapaksa to make a statement as a lawmaker after stating that he does not recognise the claim of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) leader who lost a no-confidence motion on Wednesday.

Mr. Rajapaksa’s side has disputed the no-trust motion, saying proper procedure was not followed and accused Mr. Jayasuriya of bias towards his own party.

No-confidence motion

Parliament on Wednesday passed the no-confidence motion against Mr. Rajapaksa after the Supreme Court overturned the presidential decree to dissolve the House and hold snap polls on January 5.

Amid raucous scenes, Parliament on Wednesday met for the first time since October 26, when Mr. Sirisena sacked Mr. Wickremesinghe, installed Mr. Rajapaksa in his place and suspended the House, plunging the island nation into an unprecedented constitutional crisis.

The vote of no confidence against Mr. Rajapaksa has further complicated the political crisis. It is not yet clear whether he will resign or whether Mr. Wickremesinghe, who has the support of 122 lawmakers in the 225-member House, will return to power.