Hot on the heels of National List MP Dr. Mervin Silva threatening to use his government issued pistol, another MP has openly threatened to use his gun.

Although he never displayed his weapon, Silva had warned he would unhesitatingly use force to remove, what he called, any obstacle in his path. Ironically, the threat had been made outside the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court where his son, Malaka had been charged with assaulting an accountant.

Unlike Silva, the SLMC strongman Abdul Baiz Kamardeen had drawn his weapon in the presence of over 200 police personnel and soldiers during Monday’s protest in Puttalam town against Vanni District colleague Abdul Rishard Bathiudeen, in charge of Resettlement and Relief Services.

Waving his pistol, Baiz, Deputy Minister of Livestock Development had warned his opponents of dire consequences as armed police and soldiers looked on. Surrounded by his supporters and police bodyguards, the angry politician abused his opponents. Swarnavahini, in its main news bulletin, exposed the armed politician.

Baiz (SLMC) contested the last parliamentary election on the UNP ticket before pledging loyalty to President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government. Subsequently the SLMC deserted the UNP.

Baiz and Bathiudeen, who represents the Vanni electorate, are fighting for control of an UAE funded housing project for Muslims evicted from the Northern Province by the LTTE in 1990. Baiz wants a sizeable allocation for Puttalam Muslims. The dispute is over how much, to whom.

A senior security official asserted that there would have been chaos had they disarmed the politician. "We tackled an explosive situation tactfully," he said. The Police called for army reinforcements backed by armoured personnel carriers to quell what the official called, an unprecedented crisis.