Chief Government Whip and Highways Minister Johnston Fernando yesterday said that the government should be thankful to the opposition for creating an opportunity for it to prove its numerical supremacy in parliament by bringing up a no-confidence motion against Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila.
Speaking to media at his ministry, the Minister said that once the vote on the motion against Minister Gammanpila would be taken the entire world would come to know that the government still commands its undisputed power in Parliament. That would build confidence on government by many foreign nations and other international bodies. Apart from that it would also prove that parliamentary democracy is fully-functioning here while many other countries could not even cope with the global pandemic.
We are a democratic alliance of parties with various ideologies. Our alliance is so democratic that the alliance members could voice their opinions even sometimes it is to the level of expressing their unhappiness of some decisions that we make. But that does not mean our members would go and vote with Sajith Premadasa and his group.
The vote on the motion against minister Gammanpila would also show the world how disarray the opposition parties are, the minister said. “The UNP says that it would vote for a motion against the government not Minister Gammanpila. It seems that the UNP would not vote with others in the opposition. The JVP says that the SJB’s motion would end up in a loss boosting government’s confidence. Then some SJB members say that the motion is not against the minister but against the fuel hike. Likewise their opinion is divided. They are in disarray and has nothing meaningful to do. So they resort to this type of political nonsense,” the Minister said
