 Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe comfortably won the no-confidence motion against him in voting held in Parliament last evening.
In the 225-member Parliament, 122 members voted against the motion, while 76 voted in favour. All the members of United National Party (UNP) led by the Prime Minister voted against the motion except one who abstained.
However, many members of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by President Maithripala Sirisena abstained from voting while others voted in favour of the motion.
UNP demanded resignations of those ministers who voted for the motion. Soon after his victory, Mr Wickremesinghe said, the current National government will continue with the members who remain in it.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose group brought the motion, said the defeat against the Prime Minister is also a victory as the result would have been changed if all SLFP MPs voted in favour of the motion. The motion was brought by the Opposition group accusing the Prime Minister’s party of involvement in the bond scam.
Though Prime minister won the motion, the voting has exposed the deep divisions within members of ruling collation. Several MPs and minister of SLFP led by President Sirisena abstained from voting while several others voted to remove Prime minister. United National Party (UNP) led by Mr Wicremsinghe has demanded the removal of these dissident ministers from the cabinet.
Prime minister, however, asserted that national government will continue with members who remain with them. Opposition side led by former President Rajapakse, on the other hand, blamed President Sirisena for not backing the motion.
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