The Hon. G.G. Ponnambalam

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you. But, at the same time, I must also say that I do not envy your job because you are a Member of a party which has just been elected with over a two-thirds majority and coming from that party and taking up the position of the Speaker means that you must disregard that mandate to some extent because your job here is not about that mandate, but rather to safeguard the interests of every single Member of Parliament and also be fair by all parties present in this Parliament disregarding their mandates.

¶ 02 Sir, in that respect, I would like to urge you to learn from the mistakes of the previous Parliament, which also had a two-thirds majority, but where minor parties were not given adequate hearing and chances because the previous Parliament chose to stick to outdated Standing Orders not reflecting particularly the composition of the Opposition of that Parliament.

¶ 03 Sir, ultimately, it is you who are the custodian, the protector, the final interpreter and the arbiter of the Standing Orders. So, I urge you to show that flexibility and progressiveness when you make the Rulings after hearing the views of this House. If you would be fair, you can be assured of the Tamil National People’s Front’s fullest support.

¶ 04 Thank you.