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| Friday, 23 April 2004 |
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| Government confident of facing any challenge by Uditha Kumarasinghe SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena yesterday said the election of the Speaker from the UNP with a majority of one vote will not cause any obstacle to the functions of the Freedom Alliance Government. "The Freedom Alliance Government is also confident of facing any challenge in Parliament," he said over national television last night. "A misconception may have been created in the minds of the public that the Freedom Alliance Government cannot move forward due to this situation created in Parliament. However, the election of Speaker from the opposition will not affect the stability of the Government," he said. He said the Freedom Alliance achieved a landslide victory at the April 2 General Election obtaining a majority of over 700,000 votes. Of the 160 seats islandwide, the Freedom Alliance won 106 seats. But the UNP could win only 36 seats. At the first voting, both Freedom Alliance and UNP candidates obtained 108 votes each. The second voting was cancelled due to fraudulent practices in the balloting. At the third voting, the UNP candidate was elected by a majority of only one vote, with two votes coming from the Jathika Hela Urumaya, he said. He said in order to create a stable situation in the Government, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse had discussions with all parties including the Jathika Hela Urumaya. "However, the clear stand of the JHU earlier was that they will not support any party who will back the TNA. In this situation, a firm understanding was built that the JHU would act without causing obstacles to the Freedom Alliance candidate who contested for the Speaker's post. "Finally, two JHU MPs voted for the UNP candidate completely breaking this promise," he said. Information and Media Minister Reginald Cooray said the attempt made by the Buddhist monks of Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) to adopt a tit for tat policy on the vote conducted to elect a new Speaker to Parliament has caused serious damage to what they preached to the people to form a "Dharma Rajya" and good governance. The Minister said at the first voting two Buddhist monks of the JHU voted for the Freedom Alliance extending their support to the Freedom Alliance candidate D.E.W. Gunasekera who contested for the Speaker's post. However, the JHU had been under the mistaken belief that the Freedom Alliance has pressurised these two Buddhist monks to get their vote. In an apparent attempt to get even , two JHU MPs voted for the UNP candidate at the third voting." But the Freedom Alliance categorically state that we did not apply any pressure on these two JHU MPs to vote in favour of the Freedom Alliance candidate," he said. The Minister said: "If the two Buddhist monks who voted for the Freedom Alliance have made a mistake, the JHU has the right of taking disciplinary action against them. Due to this tit for tat policy by the JHU Parliamentarians, severe damage has been caused to the core national values preached by them." He said this is the most decisive voting held in the Parliament history to elect a Speaker. A Government which obtained over 700,000 majority votes and won 106 electorates, are faced with a challenge due to a conspiracy launched by a combination of certain reactionary forces. The Minister said the hopes and aspirations of the people were betrayed due to this attempt made by the reactionary forces in Parliament. This is an ideal opportunity to the public to witness the behaviour of the JHU which pledged to create a Dharma Rajaya, but joined hands with the UNP and separatists to form this unholy alliance in Parliament. The UNP achieved this victory due to these two votes of the JHU. Therefore the JHU has extended their support to the victory of these reactionary forces. "However, the Freedom Alliance will make every possible attempt to turn this defeat into a position of strength by successfully conducting the Government. We also make an appeal from all progressive forces to rally round the Freedom Alliance to continuously take forward its victory," he said. Freedom Alliance General Secretary Susil Premajayantha said the President formed a Government by virtue of the 105 seats won by the Freedom Alliance at the April 2 General Election. This amount has increased to 106 due to support made by the one EPDP MP elected. He said the first voting was conducted in a secret manner. At that time both candidates obtained equal votes of 108 each. Seven MPs have abstained from voting while one vote had been rejected. The second voting was cancelled due to the voting not being conducted according to Standing Orders. At the first voting only two JHU MPs voted. But the third voting four JHU MPs had voted. At the third voting, one vote which got rejected at the first voting had also gone to the Freedom Alliance increasing the total number of votes to 109. However, two JHU MPs vote to the UNP helped the UNP candidate get a one vote majority. " By virtue of its 106 seats, the Freedom Alliance Government has the ability of moving forward successfully," he added. |
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