A no-confidence motion against Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, signed by 44 Opposition MPs, was handed over to Secretary General of Parliament Kushani Rohanadeera on Friday, the Daily Mirror and NewsFirst reported.
Both outlets say the motion sets out 50 allegations against the Speaker.
The grounds
The Opposition’s case, as NewsFirst summarises it, is that Wickramaratne is unfit for the post because of partisan and undemocratic conduct in handling parliamentary affairs.
The Daily Mirror gives two specific allegations from the document: that the Speaker granted privileges to his personal secretary outside established procedures, and that he acted partially in dealing with matters relating to parliamentary sittings.
Who delivered it
NewsFirst reports that the MPs who attended the handover included Deputy Opposition Chief Whip Ajith P. Perera, Tamil Progressive Alliance leader Mano Ganesan, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress General Secretary Nizam Kariapper, and New Democratic Front MPs Ravi Karunanayake, Dilip Wedaarachchi, Chaminda Wijesiri and Varuna Liyanage — a spread across several Opposition parties rather than a single bloc.
Wickramaratne was elected Speaker in the current Parliament, where the National People’s Power holds a large majority. A no-confidence motion against the Speaker is an unusual step in Sri Lankan parliamentary practice.
Not reported
Neither filing says whether or when the motion will be placed on the Order Paper or debated, and neither reports the full list of 50 allegations or the names of all 44 signatories. Neither carries a response from the Speaker, from the Secretary General’s office, or from the government benches, and neither indicates whether the Opposition expects the numbers to carry the motion — 44 signatures is well short of a majority in the 225-member House.
Sources: Daily Mirror, NewsFirst.
