(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –It has been decided at the party leaders’ meeting today to vote by name on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister is scheduled to be held on the 4th of April.
The errors experienced recently in electronic voting in parliament have led to the party leaders’ decision to call for a division by name.
Accordingly, the leaders of the parties that met today have decided to vote in each and every division in the future either vote by name or vote by rising.
The party leaders have also agreed to the time allocated for political parties for expressing their views on the no-confidence motion against the PM.
The leaders of the parties have agreed to allocate 40 percent of time for the government parties including the United National Front parties, the United National Party (UNP) and the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the opposition parties will get 60 percent of the time.
The no-confidence motion against the Premier has been signed by 55 MPs and it was handed over to the Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on 21 March by the former president and Kurunegala district parliamentarian Mahinda Rajapaksa although he has not signed the motion.
Meanwhile, 95 MPs of the United National Front representing the government has handed over a letter expressing their support to the Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe. MPs of the Minister Rauf Hakeem’s Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and Minister Rishad Bathiudeen’s ACMC have also signed the motion of confidence on the Premier.
According to political sources, the SLFP-led UPFA has not yet confirmed its stand on the No-confidence motion although the General Secretary of the SLFP Minister Duminda Dissanayake earlier said he is against the no-confidence motion.
The Opposition of Sri Lanka parliament, the Tamil National Alliance is expected to support the Prime Minister.
