(Excerpted from Memories of 33 year in Parliament by Nihal Seneviratne)

I have had over 30 years service in Parliament, but I was not regarded as a public servant, because the Constitution exempts the Secretary General and his staff from being average public servants. In that sense I had a safeguard because I knew if I were to be removed from office, neither the President, nor the Prime Minister, could remove me because the Constitution safeguarded my position. It is only by a Resolution of Parliament that I could be removed from office, a privilege also given to the Elections Commissioner, Auditor General and a select few.

In my 30 years service there have been numerous instances where I’ve held opposing views to those of Members of Parliament (MPs). As far as the public were concerned, they had no opportunity to speak to me at all, except may be on the phone. I would always take a call. But with 225 MPs holding different political views and variations, there were many instances where I had to deal with them, but I have always prided myself as a person who doesn’t lose his temper.

Whenever an MP came to my room, the first thing I would do was to ask him or her to take a seat and then listen very carefully to their point of view and then I give my point of view which was more or less an official viewpoint either on matters relating to parliamentary procedures, the administration of the House, matters connected to the MP’s hostel or the administration of General’s House (MPs holiday home) in Nuwara-Eliya. The administration of these places came under us. One thing I learnt as a parliamentary officer is to expect the unexpected but there are events catching you by surprise even if you have been on the job for years.

Unexpected visitor of Christmas day

On Christmas day 1984 I was relaxing at home. Parliament was in recess after the year end Budget had concluded and there was a gap of two weeks or so for sittings to commence in the New Year. But my day of rest and relaxation turned out to be rather memorable when I had an unexpected visitor, none other than Industries Minister Cyril Mathew of the JRJ government. There were rumours of him falling from grace with the all-powerful executive President who was known to have with him the undated letters of resignation of all his MPs.

I was taken aback to see him, accompanied by a lawyer, at my door. He believed that President Jayewardene had sent his undated letter of resignation to Parliament and insisted that I give him a letter saying that he had requested me not to accept his letter of resignation if it was ever sent to me. I politely invited him in and asked him to have a piece of Christmas cake and to come to my office and we could discuss the matter the next day. He refused my request and said, “I am not leaving your house until you give me a letter saying you have accepted my letter asking you to disregard this letter of resignation.”

It was a holiday and there was no way for me to consult the Attorney General or anyone else for advice and he was refusing to leave the house, so I had to give a letter saying I acknowledge the letter that was given by him. Subsequently he was removed from his ministerial portfolio, and I had to allocate him a back bench seat in the Chamber. I felt uneasy to do this, but I had no choice.

Meal for an MP at 2 a.m.

One day I had a call from Sravasti, the MP’s Hostel which was also administered by Parliament, at 2 a.m. An MP had come at the time and was demanding dinner and they had rung me to ask what they should do. I told the staff to provide the MP with a meal that they could prepare at that time. A few days later the MP in question came to see me. He said that he had been served a meal prepared with canned fish and had been charged Rs. 75 which was the cost for the whole tin when all he had eaten was a piece or two. I had to politely tell him that if the can had been opened to prepare a meal for him, he would have to pay for the full tin. The MP left my room, though not very happy.

MP wanted his wife and son to stay with him at Sravasti

Similarly, an MP who was staying in the hostel one day approached me and told me that he wanted to have his wife and son staying with him at Sravasti. I explained to him that this was not possible as Sravasti was strictly for MPs only. ‘The MP insisted saying he was from the Central Province, and he needed a place in Colombo from where his son could go to school. However, I had to be firm and explain to him that the rules did not permit families to stay in the hostel.

Dr. Colvin agrees to disagree

There was another occasion when Dr Colvin R. de Silva came to my room and said “Seneviratne, I know you have advised the Speaker about a ruling that he has given but we disagree with it.” I can’t remember the actual incident, but then I explained to him that these are the conventions, the procedures, that we followed and we had studied the pros and cons very carefully, before advising the Speaker. He understood my point of view and ended the matter by saying, “Seneviratne, I don’t quite agree but the ruling has been given and we accept it.” That was the gentleman Dr. Colvin R de Silva was.

MPs who make irregular requests

Then there was a Tamil MP from Nuwara-Eliya who had gone to see President D.B.Wijetunga and wanted a telephone connection to an annex of a house which was five miles away from his residence. The President himself rang me and asked me to see if the connection could be given but I told him that as the place he wanted the new telephone connection was some distance away from his residence, they would need to install a new telephone line, and this is not permissible as the MP did not live there.

The rule is that if you’re living in a house and if you want the telephone there I could authorize it but in this case the request was to fix the phone five miles away from where he lived. The MP met me explaining that he had met President D.B. Wijetunga about the matter. I told him that I had explained to the President the regulation regarding this. He accepted it and I said I regretted I could not help him. Disappointed, he left my office.

Then there was one MP who came to me after he got to know I was buying six buses for the Parliament staff. He told me we should buy some of the buses from his company. I flatly refused. I explained to him that an expert committee of engineers conversant with buses was appointed by me and I would only act on their decision. I told him if I reported him to the Speaker that he is having such a transaction as an MP, he could lose his seat.

Similarly, there was a day when I stayed overnight in my room in parliament because of threats I received warning me not to come to parliament. Thinking there could me a move to prevent me from getting to Parliament the next morning which was a crucial day, and my presence was imperative for the functioning of the House, I remained in the building overnight.

Thankfully, one thing I never did during my years of service was lose my temper. At times you are made to feel that you are subservient to the MPs in the sense they are elected representatives. Once they come to Parliament they feel that they are all powerful and they can have their own way. So up to a point we try to accommodate them, but we cannot break the rules. I maintained this position throughout my tenure of Parliamentary service.

Mock session of the House

One of the most extraordinary scenes witnessed in the chamber of the old House of Representatives by the sea was the staging of a mock session of Parliament and the summoning of the Police on duty to remove a Member of the House. On April 6, 1955, Speaker Sir Albert Peiris suspended the sittings of the House and left the chamber ordering the sergeant-at-arms to have MP Somaweera Chandrasiri (Kesbewa) removed from the chamber.

At this stage, Dr. W Dahanayake (Galle) proposed that Mr. Edmund Samarakkody (Dehiowita) take the Chair. Mr. D.B.R. Gunawardane (Kotte) seconded the motion. Mr. Samarakkody then took the Chair and called upon Mr. Chandrasiri, who earlier had been suspended, to continue his speech. Mr. Chandrasiri started to speak. This mock session of parliament continued until the sergeant-at-arms entered the chamber accompanied by the police and removed Mr. Chandrasiri.

Arising from the motion of the Members, the Attorney General made an application to the Supreme Court under Section 25 of Parliament (Powers and Privileges) Act that Mr. Dahanayake and Mr. Samarakkody be called upon to show cause why they should not be punished for offenses of breach of privileges of Parliament. The case was eventually heard before Justice H.N.G. Fernando who held: “Assuming an intention on the part of the respondents to be disgraceful, their conduct being included within the scope of Section 3 and 4 of the Act, cannot be questioned or impeached in proceedings taken in this court under Section 23 of the Act. The jurisdiction to take cognizance of such conduct was exclusively vested in the House of Representatives. The respondents are accordingly discharged from the notice served on them.”

Drama within the chamber

The Parliament Chamber has been the scene of many dramatic events as when steel-helmeted, baton-wielding policemen entered the chamber on the night of 12 February ,1959, on the orders of Mr. Speaker and physically carried out Dr. N.M. Perera, the Leader of the Opposition and 11 other Members of Parliament. This was one of the stormiest episodes in the history of the Ceylon Parliament. The removal of Dr. Perera and the other Members was the sequel to their defiance of the Speaker’s ruling that he accepted a closure motion on a debate on the Public Security (Amendment) Bill.

When Dr. N.M. Perera was to be removed, the other Members of the LSSP threw a cordon around him and tried to prevent the police from carrying Dr. Perera. After the Police had broken through the cordon and lifted Dr. Perera to be carried him, the LSSP Members clung on to him singing the Internationale, the left-wing anthem. While Dr. Perera was being carried, bedlam broke out in the galleries and they had to be promptly cleared.

Mr. Robert Gunawardene, after he was named, stood on his chair, and addressed the House. Later, he mounted the desk and continued to speak. At this stage, the Police entered the Chamber to remove Mr. Gunawardene. While he was being carried out, he shouted, “do not squeeze”, “do not squeeze” which prompted the Prime Minister, Mr. S.WR.D. Bandaranaike to say, “gently, gently.” That day, except for Mrs. Vivienne Goonawardene who, if I recall correctly, tied her sari pota firmly to her seat, every other Member of the LSSP was bodily removed from the Chamber.

Religious observances which were never associated with the work of Parliament once became the subject of a breach of privilege. Rev. Henpitagedera Gnanaseeha Thero, in the course of a sermon delivered after the alms-giving in memory of Mr. S.WR.D. Bandaranaike in the Parliament building on 26 September, 1962, said demons and evil spirits (yakkas, prethas and kumbandas) who had taken possession of some of our Parliamentarians have now left them in view of this dana and pinkama.

The next day, Mr. Dahanayake drew the attention of Speaker R.S. Pelpola to the sermon as reported in the “Ceylon Daily News”. He said that the sermon was a gross breach of privilege of the House and asked the Speaker to take suitable action. At the next meeting of the House held on November 6, Mr. Speaker read a letter he had received from the venerable monk expressing his regret and said that in view of the readiness with which the monk had expressed his sincere regret, it would suit the dignity of the House to accept the apology.

On 22 November, 1962, when Mr. K.M.P. Rajaratna (Welimada) defied the Chair and Mr. Speaker named him and asked him to leave the Chamber, he refused to comply. The speaker ordered the sergeant-at-arms to remove Mr. Rajaratna and suspended the sittings. The police were summoned into the chamber. For more than two hours, the guardians of the law grappled with the lawmakers who were out to prevent Mr. Rajaratna from being carried out. In this confusion, Mr. Lakshman Rajapaksa (Hambantota) removed the Mace from the Table and walked away. The Sergeant-at-Arms however took the Mace from Mr. Rajapaksa and placed it on the Table. Finally, when the police broke through the cordon and carried Mr. Rajaratna out of the House, the Members with the public in the galleries joining, began to sing, “He is a jolly good fellow”.

Some witty sayings of parliamentarians

Reretably, the witty sayings I have heard of and experienced in my tenure have been few, especially during my latter years. We hear several of these in the British House of Commons, many attributed to Winston Churchill. But I feel I should try and recollect a few for the future in our own land.

Immediately coming into mind is a sharp remark by Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake. He made a wisecrack on his close friend Maithripala Senanayake, Member of Medawachchiya. It was very well known at that time that he was courting a well known young Tamil lady journalist he later married. This lady had even visited my room in Parliament looking for Maithripala. Mr. Senanayake’s comment was as follows: “I appreciate the Member for Medawachchiya and his habits. He firmly believes in Sinhala only by day and the reasonable use of Tamil at night.” The House burst into spontaneous laughter.

Yet another I recall and believe is attributed to Edmund Samarakkody, Member for Ruwanwella. Being very perturbed at the conduct of fellow Members in the House he remarked in the chamber, “Hon. Speaker, I wish to say that half of this Assembly are idiots.” There was a big uproar and a Member stood up and complained to the Chair that he was insulting the Members of the august Assembly and deanded that he withdraw that statement. Mr. Samarakkody promptly got up and addressing the Chair said, “Hon. Speaker I withdraw that remark in deference to my colleagues. Half the Members of this Assembly are not idiots” Indeed a sharp and witty reply.

Another which comes to mind is the sharp comeback from my dear friend Sarath Muttetuwegama, Member for Kalawana. He was seated patiently in the chamber one day listening to Mr. Attanayake, Deputy Minister of Education at that time who continued to harangue Mr. Muttetuwegama saying “Hon. Speaker, the Hon. Member for Kalawana, if he ever speaks in this chamber, only talks of Marx, Marx and Marx. Isn’t he capable of talking about someone else?” Sarath Muttetuwegama was soon on his feet saying, “Hon Speaker, I do not know for what reason the president gave him this portfolio of education. To the Hon. Member, Karl Marx, Groucho Marx, and the marks given by a teacher in the class all mean the same thing. So please sit down and be silent.” Sheepishly Mr. Attanayake sank in his seat amidst a lot of laughter amongst the Members.

There was much speculation and mischievous gossip about the relationship between the two UNP leaders of the time viz. Dudley Senananayake and J.R. Jayewardene and a possible split between them. Stanley Tilakaratne, short in stature was an inveterate heckler and he queried Dudley Senanayake about a possible split. Dudley Senanayake was on his feet and retorted sharply, “As for splits the Hon. Member for Kotte has an advantage over me he sees them at eye level.”

Bernard Aluvihare the erudite lawyer from Matale crossed over from the SLFP to join the UNP before the 1956 Elections which the SLFP won with a substantial majority. Pieter Keuneman known for his sharp wit commented: “Rats normally jump out of a sinking ship, but this is the first rat jumping into one.”