Ranil at Prorogation Parliament

(May 07, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had arrived in Parliament around 10.30 this morning (May 07th) to participate in a scheduled debate, only to be told that the House has been prorogued.

He found the doors to the Chamber bolted, and on inquiry was informed by the 'Arachchi' about of the suspension of sittings until June 05th.)

"President Mahinda had today closed not only the door of Parliament, but also the doors to the people's supremacy and democracy," he told the Media persons on the President’s decision.

Meanwhile, speaking at the Ananda College auditorium yesterday (6 May), at the launch of ‘Mage hadha gasma’ (My heartbeat), a collection of Parliament speeches of Imtiaz Bakeer Markar said, there were never unruly ugly incidents disgracing the Rupavahini (Mervyn Silva episode) when Imtiaz was the Media Minister.

When UNP was in power in 2002-2003, Sri Lanka was considered as a model in Press freedom, but, now, it is in the watch list of the Int. Press Institute (IPI) as a Nation threatening its Press freedom, he exclaimed.

In an inspirational speech, Wickremesinghe said the civilians are unable to think in terms of a Sri Lankan identity. No one is a second class citizen based on ethnic differences, he emphasized.
- Sri Lanka Guardian