In a rare case of teamwork between government and Opposition members, Deputy Minister Mervyn Silva and UNP MP Rosy Senanayake intervened on Sunday to settle a simmering dispute between Rajiv Sebastian and Ajith Weerasinghe, a contestant of Swarnavahini’s Star’ over a derogatory statement attributed to Sebastian during a previous programme.

Sebastian, who is one of the judges of the singing competition, said that he regretted having commented on Weerasinghe’s weakness in his absence. This remark was made at last Sunday’s programme immediately after Weerasinghe’s latest performance, promoting a heated argument. Weerasinghe went to the extent of calling Sebastian a ‘hiwala’ (fox), who did not have any hits of his own but solely, depended on the late Clarence Wijewardene’s songs of yesteryear for musical survival.

An irate Sebastian accused Weerasinghe of not being to a lobby of a five star hotel, where he regularly performed. He went on to describe his experience in performing overseas and over 40 foreign tours undertaken by him and his group. Weerasinghe shot back: "Even those involved in garment trade travel abroad regularly."

As the argument was leading to a crisis situation, Colombo District MP Rosy Senanayake stepped in to calm Weerasinghe. Deputy Minister Silva, who recently earned the wrath of Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa for causing trouble in Parliament, supported the UNP MP. A hard looking Silva told Weerasinghe that he should have accepted Sebastian’s apology and ended the matter there without kicking up a row.

MPs Silva and Senanayake have regularly crossed swords during the programme. In some instances, three other UNP MPs, Dayasiri Jayasekera, Uppekksha Swarnamali and Ranjan Ramanayake in the ‘Mega Star’ fray were involved in disputes. MP Uppeksha Swarnamali received top ratings from MP Silva at Sunday’s programme, though he had been always critical of her on previous occasions. The day before, Deputy Minister Silva advised Dayasiri Jayasekera not to damage his voice by shouting in parliament, but to concentrate on his singing.(Island)