Speaker urged to safeguard democracy in Parliament

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 June 2004, 13:25 GMT]
The members of opposition political parties in the Sri Lanka's parliament numbering about 114 Thursday submitted a petition to the Speaker to take steps to safeguard democracy in the parliament. Leaders of the common opposition took this step in a major reaction to the battle in parliament Tuesday and to show that they are in a majority and to assert their authority, political sources said.

Leaders of the United National Party (UNP), Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) and Upcountry peoples Front (UPF) met Thursday morning in the parliamentary complex and decided to submit a petition to the Speaker.

The opposition leaders decided to work unitedly to protect parliamentary democracy. The appointed a committee headed by UNP deputy leader Mr.Karu Jayasuriya for this purpose. The committee comprises Chief Opposition Whip Mr.Mahinda Samarasinghe, CWC leader Mr.Arumugam Thondaman, UPF leader Mr.P.Chandrasekaram, SLMC leader Mr.Rauff Hakim, Venerable Athuraliya Rathana Thera of the JHU and Messrs N.Raviraj and Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam of the TNA.

Leaders of opposition parties later addressed a press conference. Mr.Karu Jayasuriya of the UNP said all opposition parties have joined under a common programme not to oust the UPFA government but to safeguard the democracy in parliament.