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| Thursday, 18 December 2003 |
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Politics | |
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| Massive vote for Defence by Pramod de Silva and Bharatha Malawaraarachchi History was created in Parliament yesterday when the Government and the main Opposition rose as one to pass the Budgetary allocations for Defence and Interior Ministries, which are now under President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. The two allocations were passed with unprecedented majorities with both the Government and main Opposition parties voting for them, ending weeks of speculation. The votes of the Ministry of Mass Communication, which is also under the President, were passed without a division. The Defence vote was passed by a majority of 120 votes while the Interior Ministry vote was passed by a majority of 125 votes. The People's Alliance (PA) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) voted for both budgetary allocations along with the Government Members. Only the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Members votes against. The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) member N. Madanarajah voted in favour of the Defence budget. All three Ministries were taken over by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on November 4. The committee stage debates on the three ministries were scheduled to be taken up last to accommodate any solution evolved by the current discussions between the two major parties. There had been suggestions that the government could defeat the votes of the three ministries to block the funds allocated to them. There were fears that such an attempt would have endangered efforts for further reconciliation between the two major parties. There were unusual and emotional scenes in the House when the votes were taken with both the Government and Opposition members cheering each other in return. It was firstly the Opposition members who cheered by thumping their tables as Government members stood up for the voting. Then, the Government gave a similar reception to the Opposition members by thumping their tables as the Opposition PA and the JVP voted for the two ministries. TNA member R. Sampanthan asked for a division for the two ministries. Most of the Members who participated in the debate explained that this was unprecedented in the history of Parliament. They said it was the first time that the two major parties joined hands to support the budgetary allocations of three Ministries which were held by the President while another party held the reins of government. They also said this unity of purpose should be an opportunity for the major political parties to work together for peace. Leader of the House and Minister W.J.M. Lokubandara made the winding up speech for all these ministries on behalf of the Government. In his speech, Minister Lokubandara said that he was answering for those three ministries with the concurrence of both the President and the Prime Minister. He expressed the hope that the three ministers whose portfolios were taken away would get them back in the near future. Most PA MPs pointed out that the President has nothing personal against the three ministers and that she was 100 per cent committed to the peace process. She was willing to grant all facilities to the government to continue the drive for peace, they said. They noted that the Supreme Court ruling was very clear on the fact only the President could handle the defence portfolio. The near-unanimous passing of defence and interior budgets is likely to boost the ongoing talks between the President and the Prime Minister as well as the deliberations of the Tittawella-Samarawickrama Committee. The committee aims to achieve greater understanding between the two major parties on issues of national interest. |
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