No-Confidence Motion come a cropper

Despite the 'drama' enacted by the Joint Opposition (JO) on the floor of the House in moving a No Confidence Motion (NCM) against Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, their attempt was finally in vain as the Government legislators defeated the Motion with an overwhelming majority of 94 votes. The JO members were keen to exert pressure on the Government and make a big hue and cry, but the Government law-makers defeated the Motion by clearly displaying their strength in Parliament.

Amidst speculation over the past couple of days, the UNP in association with SLFP members in the Yahapalana rainbow coalition thwarted the JO-sponsored NCM, the first such motion debated in Parliament since the Government assumed office in August 2015. When 145 Government members voted against the Motion, the JO could muster only 51 votes. As a significant gesture, the JVP who played a leading role to bring President Maithripala Sirisena to power and restore good governance in the country also voted for the Motion while the 16 TNA MPs were absent at the time of the vote. The notable absence of former President and UPFA Kurunegala District MP Mahinda Rajapaksa, Ministers Mangala Samaraweera, W.D.J. Seneviratne and several UPFA MPs could be clearly witnessed during the vote.

The Government legislators who joined in the debate were critical of the views expressed by the JO MPs. They alleged, instead of presenting facts under the six charges in the NCM, the JO members were talking about other issues which had no relevance to what was highlighted in the Motion. Deputy Power and Energy Minister Ajith P. Perera pointed out that none of the JO MPs ever spoke about a single allegation included in the NCM. Being an economist, MP Bandula Gunawardena who moved the Motion didn't utter a single word about the content of the Motion. Deputy Minister Perera said charges against the Finance Minister, should have been supported by clear evidence.

The previous day, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya had to adjourn the sittings abruptly and postpone the debate on the NCM against Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake for the next day (June 9) following a technical hitch in the microphone system of Parliament. It was the first time in Sri Lanka's parliamentary history that such a mishap had occurred. When Parliamentary sittings commenced on June 8 at 1.00 pm with the Speaker presiding, around 1.33 pm the microphones stopped working and nothing could be heard from the Chamber. The microphones stopped functioning when Public Enterprises Development Minister Kabir Hashim got up to respond to a question by Colombo District UNP parliamentarian S.M. Marikkar. This led the government MPs to shout that they had been deprived of their due facilities. They attempted to impress that there was a conspiracy to switch off their microphones. Opposition MPs too, shouted that their microphones were not functioning. Subsequently, both Government and Opposition MPs came to the Well of the Chamber and shouted that their privileges had been violated.

UPFA Colombo District MP Wimal Weerawansa was seen asking Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake whether he was afraid of the debate on the NCM against him. Opposition MPs began to shout it was a plot hatched by Minister Karunanayake and said he had spent money to get the officials to harm the microphone system. Government MPs who responded to the vociferous JO MPs, said had they plotted to prevent the debate, they would not have indulged in such type of things. We have better options, they said.

Minister Sarath Amunugama who joined the debate launched a scathing attack on MP Bandula Gunawardena. He said the NCM provided an ideal opportunity to the JO to show their ignorance, to the country. Citing a series of progressive moves by the Government such as, increase of public servant salaries, reducing the prices of fuel and increasing the allowance to university students and elders, Minister Amunugama questioned MP Gunawardena in lighter vein, whether they were opposed to the relief measures given to the people and added, that is why they had moved the NCM against the Finance Minister.

Winding up the debate, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said the Joint Opposition front-liners, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Wimal Weerawansa and Namal Rajapaksa had not even signed the Motion. The JO cannot tolerate the clean and transparent government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The Minister drew the attention of the House to the failure on the part of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to come to Parliament to vote for the JO sponsored NCM.

Yet, another No Confidence Motion handed over to the Speaker by the JO against the Secretary General of Parliament was not permitted to be moved in Parliament as there was no reason to lose confidence in the Secretary General. The NCM against the Secretary General of Parliament that he should be removed from his post as he had failed to carry out the decision on May 5, 2016 on the Supplementary Estimate vote, had been handed over to the Speaker. However, the Speaker told the House on Friday (June 10) that an oversight in the counting of votes in Parliament had occurred, as in many other parts of the world. It was wrong for some MPs to interpret the recent voting fiasco in Parliament as unprecedented. Making a special announcement in Parliament, the Speaker said that according to the Hansard there had been three earlier occasions of mistakes in vote-counting in the Sri Lankan Parliament and such errors had been rectified later. In the Parliament of Great Britain there had been 11 instances of such miscounting. The Parliamentary Affairs Committee met on Thursday (June 09) and took up the NCM presented by a group of MPs against the Secretary General of Parliament. The committee decided there was no need for further pursuance of the matter, as there was no reason to lose confidence in the Secretary General of Parliament.