Saturday Sep 21, 2024
Saturday Sep 21, 2024
Tuesday, 21 May 2019 00:14 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) will hand over a No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against the Government, including President Maithripala Sirisena, to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya today.
JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake told reporters that the JVP had decided to hand over the No-Confidence Motion, as there was clear evidence in the public domain that President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, as well as other members of the Government, had failed to prevent the Easter Sunday attacks, despite the availability of both local and international intelligence. 
“It is clear that there were multiple reports from local and international intelligence sources that Sri Lanka was in danger of an attack. The Prime Minister himself told Parliament that military intelligence had flagged the threat of Islamic State having links to Sri Lanka as far back as 2014, when it emerged that several Sri Lankans had travelled to Syria with their families to join IS fighters there. India clearly warned of an attack at the start of April, and there are numerous reports that intelligence officials brought the seriousness of this threat before the President several times, but were ignored. Today there is a common consensus among the people that this Government cannot be allowed to continue governing the country. This No-Confidence Motion is simply a reaction to that public sentiment,” Dissanayake said.
He faulted the Government for compounding the fallout from the Easter Sunday attacks by not taking prompt steps to control the anti-Muslim backlash that swept through at least three districts last week. Muslim communities in several towns in the Gampaha District, particularly Minuwangoda, as well in the North Western Province, were attacked, with houses and shops torched by large well-organised groups, Police have said. The JVP condemned the attacks, and said the Government had a responsibility to stop the backlash that was clearly coming after inter-communal tensions sky-rocketed after the Easter Sunday attacks.
“The Easter Sunday attacks and the subsequent anti-Muslim violence were not caused by a natural disaster. They were clearly the result of Government inefficiency and incompetence. Ahead of the anti-Muslim violence, there was an increase of racist posts on social media, there was also a higher level of communal tensions, which the Government should have responded to. There were also media reports targeted at escalating tensions between the Sinhalese and Muslim groups, but nothing was done by the Government. The President, the Prime Minister, and Cabinet no longer have any ethical right to govern this country,” he added.
Responding to questions, Dissanayake said the JVP is yet to decide whether they will support the No-Confidence Motion presented by the Joint Opposition against Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen. He noted that since the No-Confidence Motion was already handed over to the Speaker it will likely be entered into the Order Paper before the JVP’s No-Confidence Motion.
“There are some technical problems with the No-Confidence Motion presented against Minister Bathiudeen, but if it is presented properly then the party will discuss what to do. However, we must also point out that during the constitutional crisis Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa did his utmost to get Bathiudeen and his parliamentarians to cross over and join him. The people have a right to know how many phone calls and how many appeals were made by President Maithripala Sirisena to these people to get them over to his side. At that point, Bathiudeen was embraced by the Rajapaksa faction, but now they reject him. The public must make up their minds keeping these political crosswinds into account.”
