The 11 parties which unveiled their own manifesto recently, despite being the coalition partners of the incumbent Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP)-led Government, plan to present a motion to Parliament to dissolve Parliament, as soon as nine more SLPP Members of Parliament (MPs) join their group.
Speaking to The Morning yesterday (27), Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) Leader MP Udaya Gammanpila said that only nine more MPs need to join their group to pass a motion to enable the dissolution of Parliament, as there are two SLPP MPs with them already.
“We need only 11 SLPP MPs to defeat the Government. However, when a motion is submitted to Parliament, there may be last-minute changes in the minds of certain MPs. For instance, MPs are vulnerable to various perks such as ministerial portfolios, vehicles, and cash rewards. There may also be threats to expose certain MPs’ misconduct and corruption. Therefore, we need MPs three times higher than the actual requirement, so we need 33. This is so that we can be 100% confident that a motion is passed in Parliament. Right now, we have 24 and as soon as the remaining nine MPs join us, we plan to submit such a motion,” he said.
The said 11 parties including the National Freedom Front (NFF), the PHU, and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) last week warned that they would soon collectively take away the parliamentary majority of 113 seats enjoyed by the current Government.
Asked if they would be able to get the support of the remaining nine MPs any time soon, Gammanpila said that the support of those MPs would be delayed if the public was to receive some relief thanks to the Indian credit line. However, he claimed, even if so, “things” would worsen again in some time, and that it would be possible to get the MPs’ support at such a time.
When the said 11 political parties’ representatives met the Mahanayakes (chief prelates) of the Malwathu and Asgiri Chapters of the Siam Sect on 24 March, Gammanpila said: “Our 11 parties have 30 MPs. When those 30 are removed, the Government will be left with only 124 seats. As soon as another 12 MPs quit the Government, it will lose its parliamentary majority. Because of the mad things this Government is doing, there are far more than 12 MPs who are extremely disappointed and disillusioned.”
NFF Leader and SLPP Government MP Wimal Weerawansa, during the meeting and speaking to the media afterwards, stated that it would not be difficult to take away the parliamentary majority of the Government.
“An all-party conference was convened for all parties to work together in unity, but Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa has shown that he is arrogant so much so that he called a former Prime Minister (a reference to incumbent United National Party (UNP) Opposition MP Ranil Wickremesinghe) ‘you’. He wants to create a conflict there as well. This country cannot move forward with such an arrogant, ‘ugly American’. We will soon end this Government’s majority of 113 seats and thereby put an end to this arrogant regime,” he claimed.
Following the said 11 parties of the Coalition Government having unveiled the “Mulu Ratama Hari Magata (the entire country on to the correct path)” document – a set of proposals to overcome the current economic crisis in the country – on 2 March, Weerawansa was removed from the post of Industries Minister. In addition, Gammanpila, who attended the launch of the said proposals, was also removed from the post of Energy Minister.