Deputy Speaker Ananda Kumarasiri said no details regarding the names on the report of the Committee appointed to probe the unruly incidents in Parliament in November last year had been revealed nor have any political party been mentioned. Kumarasiri noted that the Speaker and himself would meet with the Secretary General of Parliament and discuss the procedure to forward the report to the Attorney General.
The Deputy Speaker noted that he was unaware as to how details of the report had leaked to the media, adding that it was of utmost importance to safeguard the secrecy in such matters.
“I have not revealed any names nor mentioned any party involved in the incident and I don’t know how certain media had got specific details of numbers of those implicated in the incident,” he said, referring to media reports stating that 59 MPs had been named in the report.
According to a news report published on the BBC Sinhala web site, 59 MPs had acted against the provisions of the Parliament (Powers and Privileges) Act.
It further stated that the Committee had implicated 54 UPFA MPs, four UNP, one JVP MP in the three days of clashes. Among the 59 members, UPFA MP Prasanna Ranaweera has been cited the most in the report, a copy of which has been seen by the BBC. MP Prasanna Ranaweera has been cited for 12 charges, followed by the UPFA MPS Johnston Fernando and Padma Udaya Shantha.
However, the Deputy Speaker said that he, as the Chairman of the Committee appointed to conduct the investigation, had not released such information, expressing disgruntlement over the report details being leaked to the media.
The committee report on the recent parliament clashes was handed over to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on January 22. The incident occurred on November 14, 15 and 16 last year and the report was handed over to the Speaker by the Deputy Speaker Ananda Kumarasiri, as the Chairman of the Committee.
The report submitted to the Speaker will be forwarded to the Attorney General for legal action to be initiated against those who had behaved in a violent manner within the chamber after it is discussed with the Speaker and the Secretary General of Parliament, according to Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Ananda Kumarasiri.
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya had appointed this Committee on 29 November. Deputy Speaker Kumarasiri was appointed as the Chairman of the committee while MPs Chamal Rajapaksa, Bimal Rathnayake, Mavai Senathirajah, Ranjith Madduma Bandara and Chandrasiri Gajadeera were appointed as the members.
The Committee members had reviewed the CCTV footage available on the relevant parliamentary dates separately and had then studied the CCTV footage together at several occasions prior to compiling the report.
Fist fights erupted while objects were thrown during the clashes in the Chamber on the said days when the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MPs tried to prevent the Speaker from taking his seat when a No-Confidence Motion against the unlawfully appointed Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Cabinet. Several MPs were injured during the clashes. (Daily News)
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