Harin to wear black shawl to parliament

COLOMBO (News1st): Opposition lawmaker Harin Fernando has said he will wear a black shawl in parliament until justice is served to fellow parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake who was imprisoned recently. But, chief government whip Dinesh Gunawardena pointed out that the supreme court and the President can be criticized only "through the established procedure". Mahindananda Aluthgamage, the agriculture minister, conceded the government has failed, sparking off a tense debate in Parliament. "Yes we failed, because we couldn't punish the thieves. Because we couldn't punish the bond scam culprits," Aluthgamage noted. State minister Shehan Semasinghe challenged opposition lawmakers to publicly criticize the court ruling issued on Ramanayake rather than hiding behind parliamentary privileges. "Don't hide behind privileges and be cowards," he quipped. But chief opposition whip Lakshman Kiriella said that "a court decision can be criticized both in and out of parliament."