The main Parliamentary Opposition, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) said that there is no political agenda behind the no-confidence motion (NCM) brought against the Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana but that such is because of the alleged unethical conduct of the Speaker.
As per the decision of the Committee on Parliamentary Business, the NCM against the Speaker is scheduled to be taken up for debate today (19) and tomorrow (20), and the vote on the NCM will be held at 4.30 p.m. tomorrow.
Against this backdrop, speaking at a press conference held at the SJB head office yesterday (18), its National Organiser and Opposition Parliamentarian Tissa Attanayake said that the SJB has no underhand purpose behind this motion other than rectifying the conduct of the Speaker of the country’s Legislature. He also noted that no one in the SJB has a personal rift with Speaker Abeywardana, but that his decisions and conduct on certain occasions are questionable. Attanayake said that many parties, including the Opposition MPs and civil society organisations, have criticised Abeywardana’s conduct during the process of passing the Online Safety Act (OSA) and his violation of Parliamentary traditions by neglecting the recommendations of the Supreme Court (SC).
“The Government is trying to label this as a political rivalry. But, we presented this NCM with no such intention. As we know, many parties have alleged that he behaved in favour of the Government. He did not hear what the SC said. He behaved completely opposite to what the society expects from a Speaker,” he said. He also said that the Speaker continuously overlooked the concerns raised by the Opposition parties regarding the OSA and violated the standard procedures by signing an ‘incomplete’ Bill, even when the Justice Minister said that there were some Clauses to be amended.
Source: the morning