‘No Faith’ against PM on Tuesday?

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

A section of the UPFA parliamentarians who were instrumental in bringing the No-Confidence Motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that they would seek the opinion of Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa to ascertain whether it would be included in the agenda of Parliament when it meets on June 9.

The next week would be decisive. The No-Confidence motion which contained the signatures of 112 MPs, was handed over to Secretary General of Parliament, Dhammika Dassanayake on Friday.

Earlier, a group of UPFA parliamentarians had gone to Hambantota on Thursday to obtain the Speaker’s approval, Kurunegala District UPFA parliamentarian T.B. Ekanayake told the Sunday Observer yesterday.

Even though the UPFA had collected 113 signatures for the motion, it was decided to confine only to 112 signatures as 113 is supposed to be a bad number. UPFA leaders,including Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva and nearly 15 UPFA MPs who had obtained ministerial and deputy ministerial portfolios had also signed the No-Confidence motion, he said.

MP Ekanayake said that the No-Confidence motion against the Prime Minister contains eight charges such as the Prime Minister functioning without a majority, depriving thousands of people of employment after suspending development projects, political witchhunt against their political opponents, politicisation of the Police Force through the establishment of the FCID and the controversial Treasury Bond issue.

It is entirely up to the Speaker’s prerogative to include the No Confidence motion in the agenda of the House and fix a date for the debate. In the entire political history of the country, no- No Confidence motion had been moved against a Prime Minister with as many as 112 MPs signing it, he said.