Uproar in House over AITC MP’s question

 By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana  

The ruling made by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene not to allow Akkilai Illangai Tamil Congress ( AITC) MP Gajendrakumar Ponnampalam to raise a question relating to holding a remembrance of late LTTE member Rajasuriya Patheepan (Thileepan) caused an uproar in Parliament yesterday. The uproar began when Speaker said the MP cannot be allowed to raise the question as there was a case pending in courts on the matter.  

Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella who joined in the cross talk said Mr. Ponnampalam should be allowed to raise the question if the court case had ended.   Later Mr. Ponnampalam said the Speaker might have been misled by one sentence in his statement which he referred to judiciary and said he would omit that part if allowed to raise the issue.