The Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna
Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna raised concerns about media freedom and transparency at District Coordinating Committee meetings, arguing that discussions on local development and official matters should reach the public. He alleged that Minister Ramalingam Chandraseker switched off his microphone when he spoke about corruption in Kilinochchi, and also referred to a prior suspension of his parliamentary media access following a complaint by Hon. Bimal Rathnayake, which he said was found to be wrongful by the Committee on Ethics and Privileges.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Thank you, Sir.
¶ 02 Hon. Speaker, media freedom is vital. DCC meetings are held to reveal how the Government is undertaking development for local people. Relevant government officials are invited. Matters discussed must reach the public. There is no need for Hon. Minister Ramalingam Chandraseker to block this. However, when I spoke about corruption in Kilinochchi, the Hon. Minister switched off my microphone. I do not understand why the Government needs to go so far as to switch off an MP’s microphone. Even in Parliament, my media was wrongly suspended for 8 days, as stated clearly by the Committee on Ethics and Privileges, due to a complaint by Hon. Bimal Rathnayake alleging I named a lady lawyer, which I never did.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Thursday, 9 April 2026 ·No. 23475 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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/lk/speeches/28548
Cite as: The Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 9 April 2026. No. 23475. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/28548