Following the Leader of the House and Minister of Education, Attorney Dr. Susil Premajayantha using an expletive against Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Matale District Parliamentarian, Rohini Kumari Wijeratne Kavirathna during the Parliamentary session held on Friday (24), Kavirathna has called on Premajayantha to step down as the Education Minister, or for President Ranil Wickremesinghe to decide if it is appropriate for him (Premajayantha) to be allowed to continue to hold the said post.
Speaking to The Daily Morning, Kavirathna said: "If I had made a statement with obscene words as the Education Minister, I would have apologised and resigned the very next day. There has been some injustice done to a group of teachers, so I asked what kind of action he (Dr. Premajayantha) would take as the Education Minister. Instead of giving an answer, What he did was to abuse me verbally. It is not the kind of behaviour we expect from an Education Minister and a Leader of the House. He has not even apologised for it till now. Therefore, I say he should resign immediately. Otherwise the President should decide as to whether he should be allowed to continue as a Minister."
On Friday, Kavirathna was making a statement in Parliament regarding the incident of Police officers having attacked and arrested a group of teachers and Buddhist monks who had come to the Education Ministry for an official purpose on Thursday (23). During her statement, she questioned the lack of action taken by the Education Ministry Secretary to prevent the related incident and what steps Dr. Premajayantha, as the Education Minister, would take regarding the incident.
While Dr. Premajayantha, who stood up to answer her question, was making an explanation, Kavirathna stood up again and was speaking. At that time, several Government MPs were interrupting her, and in the midst of those interruptions, she was further querying Dr. Premajayantha regarding the incident which took place on Thursday. At that time, Dr. Premajayantha was seen criticising Kavirathna using a phrase which included an obscene word.
Speaking further to The Daily Morning, Kavirathna said that when asked about a matter that could affect the entire community of teachers and students, how moral it was for Dr. Premajayantha to act in such a way that she was subjected to verbal abuse by due to the obscene terms which he used. As the relevant video footage has been widely circulated on electronic media and social media platforms, she said that she, as a teacher, a mother, and one of the very few females representing Parliament, is deeply embarrassed.
"President Wickremesinghe often talks about increasing the representation of females in politics. He is the one who took the initiative to increase the representation of women to 25%. Therefore, he should definitely take action regarding this incident. Although he cannot make a decision regarding Dr. Premajayantha's position as the Leader of the House, he (President) can take a decision regarding his Ministerial position. I have also sent a letter to Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana asking him to refer this incident to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee and conduct an investigation." said Kavirathna.
Multiple attempts to contact Dr. Premajayantha proved futile.
There have been several incidents of female MPs including Kavirathna, and State Ministers Geetha Kumarasinghe and Diana Gamage being subjected to verbal abuse in Parliament recently. Videos related to the incident on Friday are currently being widely shared through social media platforms, particularly on Facebook and YouTube and Dr. Premajayantha's behaviour is being criticised by many parties including women's rights activists.