A group of UNP Parliamentarians today handed over a motion of no-confidence to the Speaker against six Ministers of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Deputy Speaker Thilanga Sumathipala.
The motion, signed by 20 MPs of the United National Party (UNP), is against Ministers S.B. Dissanayake, W.D.J. Seneviratne, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, Susil Premajayantha, Chandima Weerakkody, Dayasiri Jayasekara and Dpeuty Speaker Thilanga Sumathipala who voted in favour of the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Following Wednesday’s no-confidence vote, which the PM won overwhelmingly, a group of UNP MPs wrote to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe requesting the immediate removal of the 6 Ministers from the Cabinet.
The letter stated that a certain group within government had continued to repeatedly criticize out in the open the Cabinet decisions which were taken in consensus and act against the government while also specially making statement against the government through the media.
The MPs say that continuing to allow those who criticize the government while in the government to stay in a betrayal of the mandates obtained in the 2015 elections.
Therefore they urged that the aforementioned “anti-government” ministers be removed from the Cabinet, for turning their back on the public’s opinion.
President Maithripala Sirisena today said that the Central Committee of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) will meet next week to decide on the MPs who voted in favour and against the no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister.
Replying to a question, from news editors this morning, he said that the future of the current cabinet ministers and the proposed reshuffle would be discussed at the Central SLFP Committee meeting scheduled to be held on Monday (April 9) and the reshuffle will be studied by a joint committee of the two parties and it would be done in a scientific manner.
He said that he had discussed regarding this with the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday.
