Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has said he will look into the request made to expunge parts of the speech made by by Tamil Makkal Tesiya Kootani (TMTK) party MP C.V Wigneswaran at the first sitting of the 9th parliament of Sri Lanka. The Speaker made this comment in response to queries by media personnel as he paid a visit to the Mahanayaka Thera’s in Kandy over the weekend.
Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SBB) parliamentarian Manusha Nanayaykkara on Friday (21) called on the speaker to expunge from the Hansard part of the speech made by Wigneswaran. Raising a privilege issue in parliament while joining the debate on the government’s policy statement on Friday (22) Nanayakkara requested parts of the speech be expunged. The offending parts of the speech made by the former Chief Minister of the Northern province and the first time MP had referred to the rights of Tamils for self-determination in Sri Lanka.
Nanayakkara accused Wigneswaran of expressing an opinion that could harm Sri Lanka’s sovereignty in his speech. He said that Wigneswaran took a pledge when entering Parliament to protect Sri Lanka’s sovereignty yet made comments which promoted dividing the country.
In his speech, he made a reference to Tamil as the oldest living language. demanded the recognition of Tamil rights. He said that the people living in the North and East have a right to self-determination. Wigneswaran also noted that every act will have its opposite reaction. He repeated the words in Sinhalese saying “kala kala deh pala pala de” drawing a few reactions from the House.
“All news MPs take an oath not to directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate state within the territory of Sri Lanka. MP Wigneswaran’s speech is a violation of that oath” Nanayakkara said.
