UPFA rebel MPs fire salvos

When the Second Reading of Budget 2016 was taken up in Parliament on Friday, November 27, UPFA rebel MPs fired a salvo against the government by presenting a No-Confidence Motion to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya against Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake accusing him of giving wrong statistics and information on Education Ministry funds allocated in the Budget proposals.

Forty four UPFA parliamentarians led by MP Dinesh Gunawardena who plays the de facto Opposition Leader's role in their so-called joint Opposition had signed it. The UPFA rebel MPs had alleged that Minister Karunanayake had furnished wrong statistics and information in the Budget to mislead the public and Parliament. They said the Minister had inflated the financial allocations for the Education sector by adding the value of buildings and lands belonging to the Ministry under Recurrent Expenditure.

Abruptly suspended

UPFA Anuradhapura District MP Shehan Semasinghe who joined in the debate said Budget 2016 would be very significant as this was the first time that a No-Confidence Motion was moved against a Finance Minister himself during a Budget debate.

MP Semasinghe told government legislators that they could see how many government members will quit the government and join opposition ranks to vote with them when the vote is taken up.

Sittings were abruptly suspended on Monday (November 23) when Opposition MPs created a rumpus that the government had replaced the original budget proposals with another set. Opposition MPs alleged that a new book with the budget proposals had been replaced. The vociferous MPs demanded as to how the government had two Budget reports and which of the two was correct. UPFA parliamentarian Dinesh Gunawardena raising a Point of Order drew the attention of the House that the government had two reports on a single Budget and queried what was the difference in the two reports. Rejecting his claim, Leader of the House and Higher Education and Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella told the House that there are no two Budget reports and called upon the Opposition members not to act like babies.

Since the commencement of the second Reading of the Budget debate last Saturday (November 21), UPFA rebel MPs vehemently criticised the proposals in Budget 2016. Ratnapura District UPFA parliamentarian Vasudeva Nanayakkara challenged the government to call a referendum on the Budget. Rural Economic Development Minister P. Harrison responding to certain remarks by MP Nanayakkara accused him of resorting to hate speech to sling mud at the government. State Minister of Highways Dilan Perera stressed the importance of putting an end to mud-slinging politics. Consensual politics will end such practices.

Heated argument

Ratnapura District UPFA MP Ranjith Soysa, a front-liner in the joint opposition accused the Chair of being partial to the government.

MP Soysa threatened to go beyond Standing Orders and parliamentary tradition, if the Chair continued to fail to give equal time for the government and Opposition in the future. He accused the Chair of not allocating enough time for the Opposition.

While this heated argument ensued, Kurunegala District MP Ananda Kumarasiri presided and in a threatening manner told the Chair that they represent the Joint Opposition and have not been recognised as an Opposition party. He warned that if ample time was not given to them to speak they would go against tradition and resort to unorthodox methods without even respecting the Chair.

Despite the antics enacted by joint Opposition members in the well of the House, Minister Kiriella disclosed that 10 members of the Joint Opposition had pledged to vote with the government at the final vote of the Budget.

The Minister called upon SLFP MPs who were still undecided to follow their seniors and join the government. There was no meaning in harbouring old grudges but should join hands to rebuild the nation, he said.

Electric vehicles

Some Government and Opposition members were critical about the increase tax on vehicle emission tests and electric vehicles. Skills Development and Vocational Training Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe took a step out of the collective responsibility and faulted his Cabinet colleague Ravi Karunanayake's proposal to increase the vehicle emission tax and tax on electric vehicles. Minister Samarasinghe called for the reduction of both.

He told the House it was difficult to understand as to how the government had increased taxes on electric vehicles when other countries had reduced taxes to encourage the use of electric vehicles.

Yet another significant development witnessed in Parliament was the Government's decision to appoint JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti as the Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) while Deputy Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna was appointed to head the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). An opposition MP was appointed as COPE Chairman after a lapse of nine years.

The last Opposition MP who chaired COPE was Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe.