In Sri Lanka, a parliamentary debate is being held today on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The motion will be debated for the whole day followed by voting late evening. It has been brought by the Joint Opposition, led by former President Mahinda Rajapakse, who accused the Prime Minister of wrong policies and bond scam which brought disrepute to the government.
The Prime Minister's United National Party (UNP), which has a slim majority in Parliament, has vowed to defeat the motion, while Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) faction, led by President Maithripala Sirisena, has not been able to reach a unanimous decision. The latter has sought Prime Minister's resignation to avoid debate on the motion which was rejected by UNP.
Deputy General Secretary of the UNP, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said, no-confidence motion can be defeated even if all SLFP MPs supported it. In 225-member Parliament, the SLFP-led coalition has 96 MPs including faction led by former President while the UNP-led front has 106 MPs. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) having 16 MPs has not made its stance clear so far.
|
LANGUAGE BULLETINS 
