Would have stepped down if I voted for NCM: Arjuna

Petroleum Resources Development Minister Arjuna Ranatunga stated that if he voted in favour of the No-Confidence Motion (NCM), he would not stay in Government even if the President asked him to remain. 

He expressed these views while responding to a query by a journalist at Welagedara Ground in Kurunegala.“The Joint Opposition brought up the NCM and it was defeated. I don’t have a moral right to remain in Government as a Minister, if I voted in favour of the NCM. If I had voted in favour, I would resign without waiting on the response of the President and the Prime Minister. My policy is not to work for portfolios. The President and the Prime Minister will take decisions in the near future. I will raise my voice if anything goes wrong.” 

He stressed that some people are trying to make the President helpless. “Some SLFP Ministers voted in favour of the NCM, which has made the President helpless. But Government was strengthened after the NCM. The President and the Prime Minister have to contribute together for the development of the country. We could not impose punishments on the offenders during the past three years. As politicians, we should follow the court procedure without taking law into our hands,” Minister Ranatunga stated. 

He concluded that Provincial Elections would be held at the right time and they will be able to achieve a winning result if the Government works properly.