Speaker's Legislative Power Cannot Be Turned Towards The Opposition's Advantge If Presidents Quest For A Majority Is Succesful.

The first session of Parliament which was Nationally telecast concluded on the 23rd of April 2004 which had as its foremost priority the selection of a Speaker after the reasonably tempered April 2nd Elections,and has been observed as a shambles where the circumvention of parliamentary decorum and dignity rarely seen within its confines in as far as its theatrics and irregularities as all semblancesof order appeared to have been cast to the winds which culminated in the UPFA's unfavourable result and the candidate from the opposite camp WJM Lokubandara being projected into the Speaker's chair by a solitary vote.

If the Constitution of Sri Lanka and its Legislative Accords had provided for a Speaker selection to be voided as a direct breach of the protocols involved relative to the importance of a secret ballot being a secret and a statutory obligation, by rights there should have been a further cancellation and a repetition of the process but unfortunately there was no such provision and the UNF candidate scraped through after 9 hours of repititive nerve wracking polling amidst the confusion and mayhem perhaps to the smug contentment of the Ranil Wickremasinghe camp as well as that of the LTTE backed TNA where spokesperson Sampanthan has already been heard uttering monotones which amounted to the victory being a beginning towards winning their fight towards their cause. Sadly a shameful fallout implicating the Jathika Hela Urumaya has transpired in the manner the Buddhist Monks of the JHU let down the Presidency and the people's mandate which projected her party into office! as it was their crucial two votes which projected the turn of adverse events in failing to support the President in this important juncture of her coalition's new term despite their pledges to the contrary previously expressed by the Monks who eventually stood alongside the very LTTE supportives they objected to in their manifesto to cast their vote!!

In a scenario which appeared to be unparliamentary and contentious through the conduct of the UNF and some of its senior Parliamentarians it has been relayed to the general public that, what took place within the confines of Parliament was indicative of rank disregard to a democratic selection process as well as Parliamentary Standing Orders where the rules of secrecy were blatantly cast to the winds and the likes of Ranil Wickremasinghe, G. L. Peiris and CWC leader Thondaman amongst others observed waving their ballots openly to their candidate to indicate their choice of selection while parading around the floor in arrogance and total disrespect of the traditions and values maintained impecably for generations in a scenario the Sri Lankan Administrative set up could ill afford whilst drawing international ridicule at the idiosyncracies of Sri Lankan Politics.

However now that the deed has been done and the Chair of Speaker has been filled officially and the new Speaker has taken his oath of office given his track record as a senior member of Parliament, he will be expected to be impartial in his decisions while strictly upholding the rights of Parliament and its members at all times. where it would be his his bounden duty to maintain the will of the people in his handling of affairs predominantly involving the elected representatives of the people in circumstances which would in all probabilities be difficult given the responsibilities, issues and timing.

All Sri Lankans wish the new Speaker well towards a tenure in office where Sri Lanka's imperative need towards rebuilding and recovering economic stability is a major consideration as opposed to the political bickerings of the UNF and other opposition parties in personally motivated objectives . Any ambitions towards ursurping present Administrative power would probably need imperative confronting within his jurisdiction while considering the prime importance of shedding his political affiliations towards impartiality which reiterated once more is an unconditional demand of the nature of his responsibilities and office through the unfolding of the Parliamentary process.

While the logical conclusion is that the elected speaker has control over the legislative powers of the Parliamentary Assembly it should not be misconstrued by the opposition that it could be an opportunity towards disrupting Parliamentary issues at every turn if it is within their ambit which would come as no surprise nonetheless if it transpired and an opportunity for the affiliations of Buddhist Monk representation within parliament to make ammends for the indiscretions they probably made through the wrong choice in supporting the wrong candidate, by now standing firm with the UPFA which would even marginally compensate for their error of judgement!

The President's Quest for a working majority needs to be successful to set in place all the ingredients which would assert the supplementations of the Nation's needs and a point for all her supportives in parliament to ponder upon which would be then compensated internationally in an economic perspective through the perception of stability as well as the setting in place of a permanent peace by whatever manner the LTTE are dealt with and the events which have caused a degree of Parliamentary turbulence orchestrated by the UNF would then become insignificant through a show of real force and indomitability by the ruling party which the Nation surely deserves!