Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday suggested that there should be a separate place for protesters and also demarcate a High Security Zone (HSZ) around Parliament.
He made this suggestion in Parliament referring to those who staged protests around the Parliament complex in Sri Jayewardenepura, Kotte in the past week and the obstruction of the movement of MPs to and from Parliament by these protests. The Premier said that any person had the right to come to Parliament and meet their representatives but they had no right to obstruct the movement of Parliamentarians.
“The movement of MPs from both sides were hindered due to the protests last week,” the Premier said. “We brought the matter to the attention of the Speaker and asked that steps be taken so that no MP is obstructed from coming to the House.”
He also said that countries like UK have special areas for the people to demonstrate. He also said that if someone wants to meet public representatives they can do so. Members have to debate issues as the new government has strengthened Parliament.
He added that Parliament was not the same where MPs raised hands like in the previous regime. “This is not the place it was before where MPs came to raise their hands only,” the Premier said. “We have many committees now.”