SJB’ no-faith motion against Govt: Full text
Here is the full text of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya’s no-confidence motion against the Government. “Whereas the Cabinet of Ministers is collectively responsible and accountable to Parliament in terms of Article 43 (1) of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and, however, the Government, headed by its Cabinet of Ministers, has violated the collective responsibility and accountability; And whereas, in spite of the fact that Parliament has the power over public finance under Article 148 of the Constitution, the Minister of Finance has unconstitutionally usurped the monetary power of Parliament, arbitrarily seizing the monetary power of Parliament and refraining from reporting to Parliament on the financial situation;
“And whereas Article 27 of the Constitution stipulates that the Cabinet, headed by the President, should be committed to ensuring adequate food, clothing and shelter, and the continued improvement of living standards, but that it has been violated by the decisions taken by the Government.
“And whereas the government has approved the wrong economic decisions which are likely to make Sri Lanka the country recording the slowest growth rate in South Asia due to its failure to direct the fiscal policy; And whereas it has contributed to creation of an unbearable inflation in the country by printing over 3 trillion rupees under signature of the Minister of Finance, and whereas the government, including the Minister of Finance, has failed to inform Parliament, which has the powers of financial control, of the reason for printing such a huge amount of money;
“And whereas the government has failed to take necessary decisions to protect the rights of consumers as per the Consumer Affairs Authority Act No. 09 of 2003;
“And whereas the government has failed to take necessary steps, even where a price control has been imposed by setting a maximum price for essential commodities in terms of the said Act, when setting prices for customers exceeding the price so imposed;
“And whereas the people have been oppressed by deregulation of prices thereby making the prices of goods and services unbearably high and the failure of the government to take necessary steps to control continuous rise in prices of goods and services according to the Colombo Consumer Price Index;
“And whereas arbitrary decisions on the part of the government related to agriculture, such as the ban on chemical fertilisers, have destroyed livelihood of farmers, destabilising agriculture and creating food shortages;
“And whereas the government has publicly promised to pay compensation to farmers whose crops have been damaged due to the ban on chemical fertilisers and, however, the government has not taken any decision to do so; And whereas the decisions taken by the government have caused the country’s economy to collapse severely and the Gross National Product (GDP) to decline because it did not take necessary policy and executive decisions at the right time to maintain the proper functioning and well-being of the country;
“And whereas the government has taken action to create an oil queue era in the country due to its failure to provide an uninterrupted fuel supply and whereas the government has failed to take appropriate action until the powers and responsibilities of the statutory public corporations are transferred to other external parties, allowing the Presidential Secretariat to decide the filling stations that distribute fuel stocks granted to the country under Indian credit facilities;
“And whereas the government has created an environment for corruption, irregularities and receiving commissions through hasty purchases by outright stoppage of importation of crude oil required for the Sapugaskanda oil refinery on an arbitrary decision of the Cabinet of Ministers;
“And whereas the government has taken steps to deprive the people of five lives by supplying substandard gas by oppressing people due to failure to provide a continuous supply of gas;
“And whereas the government has taken steps to oppress people by allowing an irregular power cut without providing uninterrupted power supply;
“And whereas the anticipated relief could not be granted to people by reduction in the Special Commodity Levy on a kilogram of sugar from 50 rupees to 25 cents, and the report of the special audit conducted by the National Audit Office has revealed that the government has allowed more than ten businessmen including Sajjad Mohamed, the owner of the Pyramid Wilmar Company, a businessman with ties to the President, the Prime Minister and other members of the cabinet to make illicit profits.
“And whereas the government has failed to issue gazette notifications to properly implement the guidelines given by the health sector during the corona epidemic;
And whereas the government did not take the necessary decisions to prevent the deaths of more than 16,000 people due to the situations arisen after non-implementation of those recommendations;
“And whereas the government has caused a financial loss to the Republic of Sri Lanka by not getting the vaccines when needed thereby having to get them at a higher price later, and whereas it has allowed its cronies to make ill-gotten money through those purchases;
“And whereas the government has failed to make necessary decisions to supply drugs needed to save the lives of people by waiting without taking proper decisions up to creation of a shortage of essential drugs;
“And whereas the Ministers of the government whose resignations have been announced by a gazette notification are still using their vehicles and other facilities, causing a financial loss to the Republic of Sri Lanka and misusing public property;
“And whereas the trust people had reposed in it has been breached by violating the policy statement of “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendor” for which the public mandate was taken when the Cabinet headed by the President and the Prime Minister came to power; And whereas people across the country continue to protest with the non-partisan slogans Go Home and Rajapaksa Go Home;, demanding resignation of the government itself including the President and the Prime Minister; And whereas it is convinced that a vast majority of people in the country are of the view that the government headed by the Prime Minister should be overthrown;
“And whereas the government headed by the President and the Prime Minister has to be removed and a new administration established to resolve the economic, social and political instability in the country;
“That this Parliament resolves that it has no confidence in the Cabinet of Ministers and the Government including the Prime Minister headed by and consisting of the President.”