Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena said in Parliament today (19) that the government would collectively defeat the no-confidence motion brought by the opposition against the Minister of Energy.
He emphasized that President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Cabinet Ministers and the Cost of Living Committee had all reached a decision regarding fuel prices.
Joining the debate on the no-confidence motion against the Minister of Energy Udaya Gammanpila, the Minister said that the price of 2015-2016 had a bigger profit than the price of oil in other years. However, the Minister questioned what the previous government had done to that profit and pointed out that the people were not given such relief despite the extraordinary benefits of oil prices during the period of the Yahapalana Government.
The Minister pointed out that the total revenue of the government was not sufficient for every post-independence government to sustain the day to day affairs, adding that the decision was taken so as not to discomfit the people at a time of massive economic setbacks in the face of the Easter attack and the Kovid epidemic.
He said that Minister Udaya Gammanpila is a capable minister and that an enlightened parliament needed such people.