Amendment passed with two-thirds majority

Irangika Range, Sandasen Marasinghe and Disna Mudalige

The 18th Amendment to the Constitution Bill was passed with two-thirds majority at Parliament yesterday amid the applauds of the Government members.

One hundred sixty-one members voted with the Government while 17 voted against making the majority of votes 144 in favour of the Amendment Bill.

Seven UNP members voted in favour of the Amendment Bill. They were Abdul Cader, Lakshman Seneviratne, Manusha Nanayakkara, Earl Gunasekera, Upeksha Swarnamali, Nimal Senarath Wijesinghe and Sri Ranga.

SLMC leader Rauf Hakim and seven other SLMC members voted in favour while TNA Digamadulla MP P.H. Piyasena also voted in favour. TNA and DNA members voted against the Amendment Bill. UNP members led by its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe were not present at the time of vote as they boycott the debate and the vote on the Bill.

TNA asked for a division at the end of the second reading. After the vote of the second reading was taken up the TNA asked for a division by name at the third reading.

The results of both the votes were the same. All the members of government were present in Parliament yesterday.