Government’s internal strife spills over : its members vote with opposition
(Lanka-e-News -11.Oct.2013, 7.00PM) No matter what desperate efforts are being made by the moribund Rajapakse government to conceal its beleaguered situation , when appointing the chairman and vice chairman for the Central provincial council Last 9th October , 7 members of the government voted with the 9 opposition members when a vote was taken to appoint the candidate nominated by the opposition, thereby clearly demonstrating the government’s unpopularity and embattled state.
The name of government party member S B Ratnayake and UNP member Rohana Bandaranaike of the opposition were proposed for the post of Vice Chairman . When the voting took place , Ratnayake received 33 votes whereas UNP member Bandaranaike polled 24 votes. The number of opposition members in the Council is 18. Of them one member was absent for the voting . That is, there were only 17 opposition members at the time of voting , yet Bandaranaike received 24 votes meaning that 7 members of the government side had clearly voted for him.
Even when the vote was taken for electing the Chairman of the council , a similar situation prevailed. Since two members , one from the government side and the other from the opposition staked their claims for the post , a voting took place. Mahinda Abeykoon’s name was proposed from the government side , the opposition proposed the name of L D Nimalasiri who is also a member of the government party.
Finally when the counting was done , Abeykoon secured 29 votes while Nimalasiri polled 27 votes. On this occasion , 9 members of the government party had voted for the candidate proposed by the opposition. If the member who was absent had also voted the government candidate would have won by a meager one vote.
A majority of the Central provincial councilors are angry over the appointment of notorious former chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake as the chief Minister sidelining Anuradha Jayaratne , the son of the Prime Minister who received the most number of preferential votes . They point out , every time the President arrived he was treated lavishly to a bevy of women at the former chief Minister’s official residence at Gagsiribada mawatha , Maolmada.
Moreover when teacher appointments were given , Mahinda Rajapakse was invited specially by Ekanayake and the teachers received their appointments directly from him so that aging Mahinda could gratify his seven year itch at senile seventy. The Councilors also claim these appointments are all camouflages of the procurer Ekanayake to satisfy his favorite client. It is therefore no wonder Ekanayake was President’s favorite for the chief Minister’s post, they added.
Political analysts say this same situation can arise in Wayambe PC too in the future.
(Lanka-e-News -11.Oct.2013, 7.00PM) No matter what desperate efforts are being made by the moribund Rajapakse government to conceal its beleaguered situation , when appointing the chairman and vice chairman for the Central provincial council Last 9th October , 7 members of the government voted with the 9 opposition members when a vote was taken to appoint the candidate nominated by the opposition, thereby clearly demonstrating the government’s unpopularity and embattled state.The name of government party member S B Ratnayake and UNP member Rohana Bandaranaike of the opposition were proposed for the post of Vice Chairman . When the voting took place , Ratnayake received 33 votes whereas UNP member Bandaranaike polled 24 votes. The number of opposition members in the Council is 18. Of them one member was absent for the voting . That is, there were only 17 opposition members at the time of voting , yet Bandaranaike received 24 votes meaning that 7 members of the government side had clearly voted for him.
Even when the vote was taken for electing the Chairman of the council , a similar situation prevailed. Since two members , one from the government side and the other from the opposition staked their claims for the post , a voting took place. Mahinda Abeykoon’s name was proposed from the government side , the opposition proposed the name of L D Nimalasiri who is also a member of the government party.
Finally when the counting was done , Abeykoon secured 29 votes while Nimalasiri polled 27 votes. On this occasion , 9 members of the government party had voted for the candidate proposed by the opposition. If the member who was absent had also voted the government candidate would have won by a meager one vote.
A majority of the Central provincial councilors are angry over the appointment of notorious former chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake as the chief Minister sidelining Anuradha Jayaratne , the son of the Prime Minister who received the most number of preferential votes . They point out , every time the President arrived he was treated lavishly to a bevy of women at the former chief Minister’s official residence at Gagsiribada mawatha , Maolmada.
Moreover when teacher appointments were given , Mahinda Rajapakse was invited specially by Ekanayake and the teachers received their appointments directly from him so that aging Mahinda could gratify his seven year itch at senile seventy. The Councilors also claim these appointments are all camouflages of the procurer Ekanayake to satisfy his favorite client. It is therefore no wonder Ekanayake was President’s favorite for the chief Minister’s post, they added.
Political analysts say this same situation can arise in Wayambe PC too in the future.
