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Tuesday, 7 June 2016 00:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Dharisha Bastians and Chamodi Gunawardana
The pro-Rajapaksa Joint Opposition issued a clarion call yesterday, saying tomorrow’s Parliament vote would be a ‘litmus test’ for the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) as the Government gears up to fight a controversial no confidence motion against its Finance Minister.
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) also announced an unexpected decision to back the no-confidence motion and support the Joint Opposition despite insisting the members of the former Rajapaksa Government kick-started the country’s debt worries.
“We do not agree to all the reasons mentioned in the no-confidence motion, but we will definitely support the Joint Opposition to pass it in Parliament,” JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath told reporters.
Parliamentary attendance for all ruling party MPs has been made mandatory tomorrow, sources said, when the motion tabled by the Joint Opposition comes up for debate to be followed by a vote later in the day.
The Government Parliamentary group, including SLFP Ministers, was set to meet at the Presidential Secretariat last evening to discuss the no confidence motion. The Prime Minister was scheduled to hold a separate meeting with UNP MPs at 3 p.m. at Temple Trees yesterday.
Issuing a press release, UPFA MP and Chief Organiser of the Joint Opposition Dulles Alahapperuma said since August 2015, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake had turned the UPFA’s economic vision and policies upside down, disregarding the mandate of 4.8 million Sri Lankans who voted for the SLFP-led Alliance in the same month.
Alahapperuma said the Finance Minister’s Budget had been at cross-purposes with Prime Minister Wickremesinghe’s Economic Plan unveiled in Parliament and the increase in VAT was needlessly overburdening the people.
“It is no secret that the Finance Minister is intent on establishing an economic system based on UNP politics and vision in the country,” the Joint Opposition release said.
Alahapperuma called on the entire SLFP to join forces to remove the party from the grip of the UNP and said it was the duty of all those who entered Parliament on the UPFA vote and National List to support the no confidence motion against Minister Karunanayake.
“The vote on the no confidence motion on 8 June will be a litmus test of the conscience of all MPs representing the SLFP,” Alahapperuma asserted.
“In 1951, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike founded the SLFP as an alternative to the UNP. It is not too late to comprehend that the SLFP cannot be the UNP’s simile; 8 June is a good day to remember that,” the Chief Organiser of the Joint Opposition said. As Finance Minister, Karunanayake will face his second no confidence motion in Parliament, signed by 37 Joint Opposition MPs. The motion was handed over to the Speaker on 24 March.
The Joint Opposition has promised to make startling revelations about mismanagement and fraudulent dealings during Karunanayake’s brief tenure in office during tomorrow’s debate in Parliament.
