SLFP says Govt. should not expect favour after unrelenting fire
Thursday, 9 April 2015 00:58
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Commenting on the situation which arose in Parliament following the Government losing the vote on the Treasury Bills motion, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) yesterday said that the Government should not expect parliamentarians to support them after scolding them continuously.
They said that instead the Government authorities should behave properly and politely.
SLFP General Secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, told journalists that what happened in Parliament concerning Treasury Bills was a sudden decision which was taken by their MPs after being continuously chastised by the Government throughout the day.
“The MPs were fed up of being scolded that day by the Government. Besides even the Prime Minister and Finance Minister were not there during the vote and there was no discussion about the matter with the Opposition either. So the United National Party (UNP) was not showing any interest in this. Therefore it is hard to convince MPs to vote in favour of such a proposal under such circumstances,” Yapa said.
Responding to Government allegations that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was behind the defeat of the Treasury Bill motion, Yapa said that it was not fair to point the finger at Rajapaksa for everything that happened and that if that was the case then Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake should be with the faction supporting Rajapaksa as they too were absent during this vote.
“After scolding our MPs from morning till evening the Government cannot expect them to raise their hands in favour of them. These MPs too have self-esteem. Therefore,, the Government should behave properly and politely,” Yapa said.
When questioned whether the Opposition was planning to bring forward a no-confidence motion against the Government as a result of the T-Bill motion being defeated, the SLFP General Secretary said that they did not like to discuss their strategies.
Meanwhile, Chief Opposition Whip John Seneviratne, who also present at the media conference, said that this motion was tabled in Parliament by the Government after misleading the Opposition.
“We were told by Ministers Lakshman Kiriella and Ajith. P. Perera that the Government wanted to table this motion in Parliament immediately as they wanted to find the money to pay the salaries of Government workers. But when it was tabled Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake denied it and instead of explaining about what the money was needed for kept on scolding the MPs and attacking the previous Government. Therefore the actions of the Government are very contradictory and under such circumstances it is difficult for us to trust them,” Seneviratne explained.
