The Government MPs by walking out of Parliament on Friday have abdicated their powers and the Joint Opposition (JO) will call on President Maithripala Sirisena to appoint a new Government, JO Leader Dinesh Gunawardena told the Sunday Observer yesterday..
The Leader of the House and the entire Government walked out of the Chamber. When all Government legislators walk out of the Chamber, there is no Government. Therefore, the President must appoint a new Government.
“It is only the JO and the UPFA which have the ability to form a new Government. We are not proposing any name, but we are saying is that they have abdicated their powers. MP Gunawardena said the suspension of his Parliamentary sittings for one week is an attempt to suppress 52 MPs in the JO and deprive their right to speak on important issues affecting the people giving very flimsy excuses, when the reality is known to the country.
“I have been suspended from attending Parliament for one week, but the Speaker has adjourned Parliament until March 21. There are no Parliamentary sittings this week. So my Parliamentary sittings were suspended only for two days on March 9 and 10 and it is over now.”
“However, the Government group withdrew from Parliament last Friday and this is unprecedented in Parliamentary history,” he said.
MP Gunawardena said that at present the JO is receiving very unfair treatment from the Speaker. In relation to the numbers, the JO has 52 MPs and the TNA has only 16 MPs in Parliament.
The JO represents over five million voters, but a political party such as the TNA which represents mere 10 percent of the voters has been given the chance to represent the Opposition. In fact, 50 percent of time has been allocated to the TNA. How can this be fair or reasonable? Is this the Parliamentary democracy?
The JO front liner said, “In the Lok Sabha, the Indian Parliament, a party that does not have at least 10 percent of the seats of the Lok Sabha, the leader of that party cannot be the Leader of the Opposition. Today, Sonia Gandhi is not the Leader of the Opposition because she doesn’t have 10 percent of the members of the Lok Sabha. This is what our neighbouring member of the Commonwealth practices. So what are we doing? and whom we are trying to mislead?”