Democracy through the eyes of political parties

Colombo (News 1st) - The group "Eliya" discussed the 19th amendment and its effects on Sri Lanka, during a seminar held in today (Dec 8). This seminar was held at the National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority in Katubedda, Moratuwa. Journalist Mohan Samaranayaka stated that the 19th amendment was passed during the 100 days Yahapalana government. He went on to state that during the 19th amendment bill debate, UNP MP Sri Ranga stated that they had not received a Tamil copy of it, to which Ranil Wickremesinghe has stated that MP Ranga is part of the UNP and therefore "shut up and sit down". He stated that this is an example of Ranil Wickremesinghe's democracy. He went onto note that the Tamil National Alliance, which was established in 2001, earlier stated that LTTE is the official representative of the Tamil community. Samaranayake continued that ironically the TNA is now worried about the democracy of the Tamil people. Dishing out an attack on the JVP, Mohan reminded those gathered that during the 87/89 JVP riots, a JVP member bombed the Parliament during a session. He noted that this was an example of how JVP goes about democracy. Dr. Channa Jayasumana who was also part of the seminar stated that the country is suffering due to the 19th amendment and that it will continue to remain in chaos if the same individuals are allowed to draft new amendments.