Parliament defeats no-trust motion against Gotabaya
119 MPs voted against while 68 lawmakers voted in favour of the motion
Colombo, May 17: A noconfidence motion tabled by the Opposition against Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was defeated in Parliament on Tuesday, in a comfortable win for the embattled President amidst nationwide protests demanding his resignation due to the country’s worst-ever economic crisis.
The motion by Opposition Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.A. Sumanthiran to suspend Parliament’s standing orders in order to debate an expression of displeasure over President Rajapaksa was defeated with 119 MPs voting against it, the
Economy Next newspaper reported. Only 68 MPs voted in favour of the motion, it said, giving the 72-year-old President a
comfortable victory.
With the motion, the Opposition sought to demonstrate how nationwide calls for President
Rajapaksa’s resignation are reflected in the country's legislature, the report said. The main Opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) MP Lakshman Kiriella had supported the motion. According to SJB MP Harsha de Silva, among those who voted against the motion was Sri Lanka’s newly-elected Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Human rights lawyer Bhavani Fonseka tweeted after the vote that the motion’s defeat exposed MPs who protect President Rajapaksa.
On Tuesday, Parliament met for the first time after the appointment of new Prime Minister Wickremesinghe,
as the country looks to undertake major constitutional reforms amid the worst economic crisis. Sumanthiran, who moved the motion, wanted the standing orders suspended to carry on with the debate.
The government, however, objected to suspending the standing orders. The Speaker then ordered a vote on the question of suspending the standing orders.
The government won the vote and forced the adjournment motion moved on the violence suffered by the ruling party politicians since May 9.
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