Opposition parliamentarians disrupted parliamentary proceedings on Monday to protest the government move to summon former President Mahinda Rajapaksa over bribery allegations.
Rajapaksa and his brother and former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa were asked on Friday to depose before the Bribery Commission (BC) on April 22 regarding allegations of financial frauds during their decade-long tenure in office.
The opposition parliamentarians complained that it was "not proper" for the Bribery Commission to question the former president and his brother in such a manner, Xinhua news agency reported.
The commission will record the former president's statement in connection with the allegedly fraudulent document produced by former health minister Tissa Attanayake in an attempt to criticise President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in the run-up to the presidential election.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe assured the protesting opposition MPs that adequate security would be provided for Rajapaksa and he had been summoned only to a record a statement.