Sri Lanka's parliament descended into a violent brawl today, with a UPFA MPs caught on film throwing a waste bin at the Speaker and a UNP MP photographed wielding a knife during the session.
Another UPFA MP was videoed pouring water over the Speaker's chair, whilst photographs published by AFP show a former minister brandishing his middle finger to colleagues.
Violence broke out after Mahinda Rajapaksa rejected the no-confidence motion levelled against him and assumed the bench of the Prime Minister in parliament.
The parliamentary mace was removed and the Speaker was mobbed before being forced to step out.
Rajapaksa loyalists remained chanting in the chambers.
Violence Scenes
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Video footage and images circulating show MP Palitha Thewarapperuma being restrained before jumping into scuffles wielding a knife on the parliamentary floor.
Read more here.
MP Indika Anuruddha has since filed a complaint with the police stating he was threatened with a knife inside parliament.
“Both Ranjan Ramanayake and Palitha Thewarapperuma threatened me with a knife inside the chamber. When I brought Speaker’s attention to this, he said not knives but swords should be brought in because of the current state of affairs," MP Indika Anuruddha told the Daily Mirror.
Read more here.
The former sports minister Navin Dissanayake was photographed by AFP brandishing his middle finger to colleagues, whilst the UPFA MP Prasanna Ranaweera was caught on film casually strolling by the Speaker's chair and pouring water over it.
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