Colombo, Nov. 19 (IANS): Sri Lanka’s political turmoil continued into its third week on Monday, with the government and the former ruling United National Alliance (UNA) quarrelling with each other.
The government reiterated that it would continue in governance while the former ruling UNA said it would not recognize the government and called for financial cuts.
Parliament proceedings began on Monday afternoon but lasted only for 10 minutes and was adjourned till November 23 by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament.
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, who held an All Party Conference in his Parliament Chamber before the proceedings began, did not attend the session on Monday.
Dinesh Gunawardena, leader of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna and a supporter of Prime Minister Mahinda Rakapakse, told journalists that they urged Speaker Jayasuriya to recognize the government as the No Confidence Motions which had been conducted last week in parliament had been unlawful.
Rauff Hakeem, leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, who is a part of the United National Alliance, told journalists that in the All Party Conference held in Parliament, legislators proposed to call for a vote on the trust vote against the government again, this time by name or an electronic voting system but this was turned down by the “purported government”.
He said a motion to halt the funds distributed to the Prime Minister had been submitted, which would be debated and voted in Parliament on November 29.
Hakeem further said that several measures to protest against the “purported government” would be carried out in the coming days.
Meanwhile, President Maithripala Sirisena has told MPs to call for another no-confidence vote on the government, after he rejected last week’s no-confidence vote as unconstitutional, the President’s Office said on Monday.
According to a statement, following the all-party meeting held between several parliamentary legislators and the President on Sunday evening, Sirisena said he could make a decision on the no-confidence motion against the government only if a vote was taken by name or conducted through an electronic vote, reports Xinhua news agency.
Sirisena said this would be the most accepted method of voting by the local and international community.
Mahinda Rajapakse, the Prime Minister appointed by Sirisena, and sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also attended the meeting.
On November 16, Parliament Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said that a second no-confidence motion called against the government had been passed in Parliament with a majority, despite it being taken amid violence and under heavy police presence.
However, the government rejected the vote as invalid, saying the Speaker had not followed the basic parliamentary rules in calling for the no-confidence vote.
