19 A Debate: M.A. Sumanthiran’s (MP, TNA) Speech

08/05/2015 

“Five years ago, on the 8th of September, 2010, the lot fell on me to open the Debate for the Opposition on the Eighteenth Amendment and I remember the words that I spoke then. I said, “Within six months of me coming into Parliament, I am confronted with this Bill, which was a final nail on the coffin in which democracy had been laid in this country for some time”. On that day, I did not expect that another Bill like the Nineteenth Amendment would be presented to the same Parliament within the period of five years, within the same term of office as a Member of Parliament for myself, wherein that Amendment would be repealed. So, this is indeed a momentous occasion, even personally for me, to speak on this Nineteenth Amendment. One must place on record how this Amendment came to be. Many people are under a misapprehension that all of this started with the Presidential Election, from about November, last year. No, that is not true.” – TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran’s speech on the 19th Amendment at Parliament on 28th April 2015

19 a Debate M.a. Sumanthiran’s (MP, TNA) Speech by Thavam Ratna