JHU threatens to boycott parliament
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 June 2005, 13:27 GMT]
Venerable Athuraliya Ratana Thera, parliamentary group leader of the all
monks' Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) party Tuesday announced in parliament
that his party has decided to boycott the House temporarily in protest of
the Sri Lanka government's move to sign the joint mechanism proposal with
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), parliamentary sources said.
Thereafter JHU parliamentarians present in the House walked out. However
two JHU parliamentarians, Venerable Dhammaloka Thera and Venerable
Punnyananda Thera, later returned to the House and occupied their seats, the
State controlled Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation reported in its news
bulletin Tuesday. Meanwhile, the fast unto death protest launched by the JHU entered second
Tuesday in front of the historical Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, capital of the
Central province. JHU parliamentarian Venerable Omalpe Sobitha Thera began
his fast unto death protest Monday demanding the government to abandon its
decision to sign the joint mechanism with the LTTE. About fifty
others also joined the monk parliamentarian in the second day, sources said. The parliamentary strength of the JHU is nine.
|