Displeasure Motion Against SL Prez Defeated
Colombo, May 17: Motion titled “Displeasure of Parliament for not having properly exercised, performed, and discharged the powers of the President under the Constitution” tabled in the Sri Lanka Parliament on Tuesday over President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was defeated in a comfortable win with 119 MPs voting against it.
It was moved in the House by Tamil National Alliance MP MA Sumanthiran and seconded by main opposition, Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Lakshman Kiriella. Only 68 MPs voted in favour of Sumanthiran’s motion.
With the motion, the opposition sought to demonstrate how nationwide calls for President Rajapaksa’s resignation has reflected in the country’s legislature. SJB MP Harsha de Silva said that among those who voted against the motion was newly elected Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
“It is obvious that #GoHomeGota2022 cry across Sri Lanka is rejected by the Podujana Party allies including the new PM,” he said in a later tweet.
The parliament also managed to elect government nominee Ajith Rajapaksha as its deputy speaker, defeating opposition nominee Rohini Kaviratne.
The new Prime Minister who has served in the same position five times earlier is supposed to turn around the crisis hit economy further exaggerated by the political uncertainties over the last two months amid widespread protests by the public in Colombo and elsewhere for President Rajapaksa to resign.
These agitations saw his brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, resignining barely a week ago on May 9. Attacks by Rajapaksa loyalists on protesters at Colombo’s Galle Face Green last week saw intensified retaliatory arson attacks on government MPs and their supporters.
Now, Gotabaya and his second in command, Wickremasinghe need to attract donors ranging from China to the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC.
