Mujibur accuses Speaker of bias 

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Deputy General Secretary Mujibur Rahman accused Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena of being biased towards the Government. 

Rahman pointed out that the Speaker watched on passively as Government MPs proceeded to intimidate the opposition leader, verbally abused him in parliament and forcefully made away with his documents.

“He observed all these incidents and, in the end, imposed a two-week parliamentary ban on MP Sanath Nishantha. We have noticed a pattern where the Speaker treats Pohottuwa MPs favourably and others differently. Instead of acting impartially as a Speaker should, he seems to act more as a representative of the Government,” he alleged.

Rahman said Nishantha was not the only Government MP who harassed the opposition leader but nearly 10 Government MPs had approached him during the unruly incident in parliament on Tuesday.   “Some threatened him. Others verbally abused him. But the Speaker merely banned one MP from parliament following which he demanded opposition MPs to not live stream parliamentary proceedings,” he said.

Rahman emphasised the importance of revealing the unruly behaviour of MPs to the public, asserting that technology plays a crucial role in achieving this goal. He alleged that the Speaker is now attempting to hinder the dissemination of such information.