Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday survived a non-confidence vote in parliament submitted by a group of opposition legislators, after a majority of legislators voted to support his coalition government.
A total of 122 legislators voted against the motion after it was debated about 11 hours in the 225-member Parliament, while 76 legislators voted for and 26 legislators abstained.
Those pledging their support for the prime minister included the legislators from his ruling United National Party (UNP), the main opposition Tamil National Alliance and the United National Front Alliance.
President Maithripala Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) was split over the vote, with the only 16 of its 42 lawmakers who support the government voting for the prime minister. Some 26 legislators, many from the SLFP, were absent.
“We can have a fresh start from tomorrow,” Harin Fernando, a minister with the UNP told the parliament during the debate.
But many UNP legislators urged Wickremesinghe to sack the SLFP ministers who had expressed no confidence in him, suggesting the unity of the coalition was fraying.
State Minister of the National Policies and Economic Affairs and UNP member of Parliament Harsha De Silva said the prime minister's winning of the no-confidence vote was a great victory for the government and the unity government would work harder to fulfill its pledges to the people.
The non-confidence motion was presented to Parliament on Wednesday by Joint Opposition leader MP Dinesh Gunawardena who called on the prime minister to resign following allegations that the government had failed to fulfill its promises in the last three years. APP/AFP