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Sri Lankan opposition legislators on Monday defied police barricades and forced their way into the parliament complex where they vowed to impeach President Chandrika Kumaratunga for her decision to prorogue the House till September seven.
"The opposition leaders decided to move a motion for impeaching the president and they will prepare the list of charges for her impeachment," opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told reporters in Colombo.
Earlier, a number of opposition MPs sought to enter parliament, a day after Speaker Anura Bandaranaike refused to summon the House, in defiance of Kumaratunga's order proroguing it till September seven.
However, police barricades greeted them on all approach roads. However, many lawmakers removed them on their own and ventured into the complex.
A police officer told the angry leaders that they were acting under instructions from the president, All Ceylon Tamil Congress MP A Venayagamoorthy said.
Later, at the instance of the speaker, the MPs were allowed to hold a meeting in a committee room.
"She has no power to issue such instructions that interfere with the rights and privileges of parliament," Wickremesinghe said.
After arbitrarily proroguing parliament to avoid a no-confidence motion backed by a majority of the MPs against the ruling People's Alliance government, and calling for a referendum on August 21 on whether the country needed a new constitution, this attempt to prevent them from entering the House was the last straw, the opposition said.
Under the Sri Lankan Constitution, an impeachment motion needs the support of two-thirds of the members of the House for automatic admission. Alternatively, the speaker is allowed the discretion to admit it with the support of half the number of MPs.
Thereafter, the charges in the motion are referred to the supreme court to determine their veracity. If a 'guilty' verdict is returned by the court, the House will have to approve it with the support of two-thirds of the members.
Wickremesinghe said the opposition was also looking into alternative means of convening Parliament. Parliament would have to do it on its own, as the speaker had ruled that it was not within his powers to summon the House after being prorogued by the president.
"All members are bound by oath to uphold the constitution, and by the Doctrine of Necessity, they will have to meet to take up the no-trust motion, which has the support of 115 in the 225-member House," he said.
The Leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), however, did not attend the meeting in parliament and is planning mass protests on its own. The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) joined the meeting and expressed support to the decision to impeach the president.
"She is a president under siege, firing at every leaf and shadow, with her desperate acts," Wickremesinghe said.
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