The no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe tabled by the Joint Opposition (JO) will force President Maithripala Sirisena to show where he stands politically, sources close to him told Colombo Telegraph.
Maithri and Ranil | File photo
‘The President is in a quandary because if he urges the party he leads, the SLFP, to support the motion it would throw the unity-arrangement with the UNP into disarray whereas opposing it would invite the charge that he is a lackey of the UNP, further alienating him from the party’s support base,’ sources disclosed.
Since the composition in Parliament makes it an uphill task for the motion to hold, the best option for the SLFP would be to orchestrate things to have a UNPer other than Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister, sources further opined.
However, as per the 19th Amendment a no-confidence motion can only discredit and de-legitimate Wickremesinghe in the event that it holds but not oust him. Politically, however, the premiership would become untenable, forcing Wickremesinghe to either resign or come to an agreement for constitutional amendment that allows the dissolution of Parliament, a situation that is not to the liking of either the SLFP or the UNP.
The motion is scheduled to be taken up for debate on April 4, but in all likelihood the President will disclose his position and move accordingly before this, sources added.
Amarasiri / March 27, 2018
RE: No-Confidence Motion: Sirisena Weighs Options For Decisive Move Before April 4th
“The no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe tabled by the Joint Opposition (JO) will force President Maithripala Sirisena to show where he stands politically, sources close to him told Colombo Telegraph.”
Amarasiri’s gut feeling is that Sirisena will advice his SLFP troops to abstain, and with the TNA also abstaining, only with the JO and JVP, the motion will be defeated.
Sirisena and Ranil can then slog along for another two years in the Land of Native Veddah Aethho, illegally occupied by the Paras, who arrived by Hora-Oru, Kalla-Thoniss, Illegal-boats.
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Emil van der Poorten / March 27, 2018
Amarasiri:
Interesting, logical analysis. However, the central message is that this self-seeking horde on both sides of the divide is interested in their own, personal well-being, NOT IN WHAT ARE THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE SRI LANKAN NATION!
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Native Vedda / March 27, 2018
Emil van der Poorten
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You are right however how Ranil is going to stop his MP’s jumping ships a practice they were well versed and experienced. The same goes with Sirisena.
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If Ranil expects TNA to abstain what would be the price he is willing to pay and there is uncertainty about his ability to deliver his promise.
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Let us wait until the actual horse trading starts.
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What the new and improved smart patriot Navin Dissanayake and Sajith Premadasa (to lesser extent) are planning to do is an important/interesting guessing game.
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Amarasiri / March 27, 2018
Emil van der Poorten,
“.. personal well-being, NOT IN WHAT ARE THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE SRI LANKAN NATION!”
Of course , it is about self-interest. That is why Amarasiri stated:
“Sirisena and Ranil can then slog along for another two years in the Land of Native Veddah Aethho, illegally occupied by the Paras, who arrived by Hora-Oru, Kalla-Thoniss, Illegal-boats.”
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Amarasiri / March 28, 2018
Emil van der Poorten
“Amarasiri’s gut feeling is that Sirisena will advice his SLFP troops to abstain, and with the TNA also abstaining, only with the JO and JVP, the motion will be defeated.”
Mama Seka Kalemi, Mama Derna Gathimi
I suspected., I came to know.
Heard through the Grape Vine, Bulath Vine, and Vettila Vine that TNA will vote with the UNP to defeat the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister .
Now Sirisena’s SLFP can “respectfully” abstain and can then slog along for another two years.
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Jim softy / March 27, 2018
Siriseena should cancel 19th amendment and instead introduce check and balances for the executive president so that he will be responsible for any crimes, financials frauds and any injustice that harms the country.
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Daham / March 27, 2018
It will be a blessing for the country if the president resigns and go to Polonnaruwa for good before 4th April because he does not let the government govern the country..
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Amarasiri / March 27, 2018
Daham ,
“It will be a blessing for the country if the president resigns ..”
He won’t, too much gravy.
When JVP introduces the 20th Amendment to expunge the Executive Presidency, and IF it passes,, with immediate effect, yes, Sirisena can retire.
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Chathurika / March 27, 2018
Totally agree malli ! Our Janadhipathi Thathi is ruining the country !!
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Amarasiri / March 28, 2018
Chathurika,
“Our Janadhipathi Thathi”
Also known as Traitor, Pathola-sena, Sevala-sena, Pacha-sena, and Peretha-sena, “Thathi” to the 6.2 million who voted to elect him.
How many will elect the “Thathi” the next time?
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Sarrij / March 29, 2018
A
The 3 P-sena, i.e. Pathola, Pachya, Peretha seems to be toast but enjoying playing house of cards.Unfortunately this is going to be a lengthy drawn out game. Expect surprises, the unexpected could happen?
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Real Revolutionist / March 27, 2018
This is frustrating, even the president should not act on his whim & fancy.
Let anybody have what he/she deserves.
Provisions in the constitution to oust/prosecute a person with lost credibility must be safeguarded @ any expense.
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nimal fernando / March 27, 2018
True!
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Ad / March 27, 2018
That is exactly the best option. MS should resign and go home. He is not knowledgeable to govern gracefully. He doesn’t know his rights and obligations, lacks confidence and stature. He was elected for a purpose, instead tried to be too smart trying to be in limelight without spilling any substance, but nothing done in deeds. Resorted to several corrupt activities involving his two brothers and other family members at the cost of the state’s economy. When he is not an executive, he behaves as one. He is protecting criminals and fraudsters abusing his power. PM may be partly responsible for several debacles, however everyone in the cabinet has to take the blame for all the ills. They have made the way for the despised criminals to return against the will of the educated people. Finally it is MS who is resonsible for the mess and not RW.
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roy / March 27, 2018
I endorse your statement 100%.
RW is helpless. Mara is pulling the strings on the puppet Sirisena. The way Srilanka is heading is very dangerous, thugs murdeous and fanatics will take over. The police chief in charge of the Srilanka thuggery force STF was opposing Sarath Fonseka to be in charge of law and Order , is a big question mark.
It is only the genuine patriotic law abiding Sinhalese is the ones who can save the country . Protest Protest go in large numbers to show you are against this. Don’t give the country to rogues ,looters and kalakanniyas.
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Justice and Fairplay / March 27, 2018
There is little doubt that history will well remember Pres. Sirisena. What he should worry about is how he will be remembered.
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Fathima / March 27, 2018
Then there will be a presidential election and Kothapaya will win.
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anonymous / March 27, 2018
You want to bet on that?. It will be a contest between a war winning general against a deserter (I don’t know his rank when he became a refugee in US). This time, there will be no computer ‘Jilmart’ or ballot papers ending up in strange places after a few months.
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anonymous / March 27, 2018
The ‘thought for the day’, well said Daham. I agree.
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Jim softy / March 27, 2018
President is right if he takes decision to solve the peoples’ dislike against the govt because of the corruptions and scandles. It is long enough that PReisdent showed that he is in the same camp of theives. Ranil he is highly damaged. He will do nothing good fro any one. Remember how fast he left CBK’s govt.
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M.Sooriasegaram / March 27, 2018
A Srisena lead government with the good governance agenda and without the UNP is of course a better option for the country. Mahinda faction has to give up its old agenda and commit to an inclusive and good governance agenda for this to happen.UNP has swindled the nation and therefore can no longer be in the government.
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Uthungan / March 30, 2018
Your wish in contending that without the UNP a Sillysena one could be a better option to govern the country,but to hope and wish the MaRa faction would give up it’s old habits that easily when it itself set the agenda for the UNP to follow is too much to expect.
Besides that, to expect Sillysena to set up a good governance agenda is to question the validity of his intentions and intelligence if he has any apart of his capabilities.
The best examples are his bringing back to parliament defeated candidates as MP’s to make them ministers and appointing his next of kin to lucrative posts in the Sri Lanka Telecom, and taking his son to meet the UN and to meet the Indian PM Modi or letting BBS thugs to Japan etc.etc.
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Native Vedda / March 30, 2018
M.Sooriasegara
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“A Srisena lead government with the good governance agenda and without the UNP is of course a better option for the country. “
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Why do you think or believe Srisena lead government will have good governance agenda?
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You should check deterioration of your memory and must start reading news paper regularly.
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upali / March 27, 2018
The president has displayed that he is not capable of taking rational well thought out analytical planned decisions as shown in Asbestos and Glyphosate cases.The country is in a Malaysian plane MH 340 mode piloted by him.
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Hela / March 27, 2018
If RW looses the NC motion, he will be gone irrespective of 19A. However the question is will he be mortally wounded even if he survives the NC?
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Fathima / March 27, 2018
There is no arm invented yet to mortally wound a person who does not want to give up the leadership after being defeated 30 times or more.
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Native Vedda / March 30, 2018
Hela
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“However the question is will he be mortally wounded even if he survives the NC?”
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Why losing an office in the government is counted as mortally wounding?
Look at the jolly bad fellow Dr Mahinda Rajapaksa (LLD + 3 X PhD) with his customary shameless smugness did contest and won a seat in the parliament after losing his presidential elections which he worked hard to retain as his private property in addition to his loot.
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Chandra / March 27, 2018
‘Govern the country’? Is the UNP ‘governing the country’? Was the bond scandal, ‘governing’?
What shamelessness is this? None who are so blind as those who refuse to see.
It was these games that forced our Siriya into a corner where his own stupidities are now getting exposed.
Mr Wicks should go home to Colombo 5 and give up the game for the good of the country. That will be the blessing. 2001-2003 repeat.
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Mallaiyuran / March 27, 2018
Ranil wanted to do everything possible to save the Old Royals. This threw him under feet of Xin Jinping. There was opportunity to redeem $1.5 Billion Colombo Pong Cing and $1.1 Billion Hangbangtota if he had rigidly received Dubai Account $3 billion, alone. But he passed Foreign Exchange Amnesty Bill so the not just Old Royals, even Malik and others could bring in their collections.
Old Royals hyped of making Lankawe as Asian Miracle. They did it make the Modayas drown into fantasy to believe the country next to North Korea has really beaten South Korea, Singapore & Japan like real Eastern Tigers. But Ranil honestly thought by manipulating the election bills he is saving the countries from Tamils. Yes, electioneering did that and additionally, it has thawed Hakeem’s extortion too, an unexpected by product. Old Royal did not name the candidates in the ballot paper, in LG. They put Lotus Bud instead. Modayas thought it was their master who was standing in all their wards. Slap Party scooped up the votes. Ranil is now facing the No confidence motion for his electioneering result.
Whether the no confidence motion is winning on the 4th or get withdrawn before that, Ranil will be growing more and more crippled and tottering because of his Chinese deals. He planned to go to India to ask for Indian GSP+ somewhere in December. Three months have passed. Not just the internal issues, he has no tongue to talk in India, because China has pulled out everything with its hand. Last June, before Ranil went to India and finally rejected ETCA, Tilak had come from China and had expressed its objection of ETCA.
Ranil only wanted to save Old King. But as the wage for that, Ranil was sold by hustler Malik to Xin as a courtesan. Mahanama Buddhism is being mopped out of Lankawe Mawatta and deluged with Mao Buddhism.
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Muhandiram / March 27, 2018
The President is between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. He is in a No Win situation whether he Openly supports or opposes the No Confidence Motion. The least harmful choice for him is to do Nothing and wait in the sidelines.
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Jim softy / March 27, 2018
Champika Ranawaka IS going to sell and Replace the Colombo HArbours’ COLOMBO name for US $ 640.. what a way to carry out the new wave of democracy.
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Native Vedda / March 27, 2018
Jim softy
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“what a way to carry out the new wave of democracy.”
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Champika Ranawake is the original Hela hence he has every right to behave as he wishes. Who are you to question him and his brand of democracy given that he is the first among the self seeking bigots.
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nalmen / March 27, 2018
sirisena has no future after his term ends
the slfp ministers will all jump ship close to the next election
therefore he should continue the unity govt till his time is up and let the unp take care of ranil
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Lapatiya / March 27, 2018
There is nothing Sorrysena to decide about chasing RW out as whole project sponsored by himself. Just after the Local Govt election he asked RW to step down. Then JO took the opportunity to bring a No confidence motion. JO knows that their time is limited as proposed new judicial act will come soon. That is the reason they were in a hurry to bring a no confidence motion against RW. Also RW proposed Sarath Fonseka as the Law and Order Minister but but SLFP “Kambahoru like Susil Premajayantha, Dilan Perera, Anura Priyadarshana yapa, S.B Disanayaka, Rilasiri Jayasekara along with JO Kambahoru pushed “Niwata Sorrysena” against it.All these people were with Mahinda Rajapaksha before 8th Jan. 2015 and now this “Sewala Man” Sillysena is trying to cut RW’s neck and send it to Mahinda Rajapaksha for his own survival. What a third class man this Gramasewaka is. When this man afraid to come for the last presidential election meeting at maradana RW and Ravi K took him in RW’s vehicle to the meeting and said “you are safe among our people” While Sillisena speaking in the rally in a bullet proof cubicle RW freely walked towards people participated in the rally. This uneducated man is betrayed such a man. RW may have lot of weaknesses but he will survive but let us see what will happen to the biggest betrayer in the Srilanka political history. There was a article in the Divaina written by Manoj Abedeera implying that Udayanga Weerathunga safly in Ukraine but there was a news yesterday Udayanga Weerathunga again arrested by Dubai Authorities. See what a load of rubbish this 2.50 “Jadamadya” publishing.
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Mugalan / March 27, 2018
After the N C M on 4th ,irrespective of the result UNP should bring a No Confidence Motion against the President.
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hancho pancha / March 27, 2018
Honorable thing for the PM to do is to resign with what ever honour he is left with and appoint Field Marshal Mr. Sarath Fonseka to take over as PM.
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K.Pillai / March 27, 2018
There are indication of a breach into RW’s inner circle. his no doubt would have made MS insecure.
The prime consideration of MS for ‘a decisive move on 04 April’ must be for the good of Lanka. Anything else will be construed as giving in to blackmail.
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Park / March 27, 2018
Sirisena has no control over his flock, its controlled by Mahinda. Sirisena will fold into two and come out saying I will give free hand to the members of SLFP to vote the way they like. This is not because he wants it this way but because he is a weak leader who does not have the support and confidence of his own SLFP members.
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Justice and Fairplay / March 27, 2018
There is little doubt that history will well remember Pres. Sirisena. What he should worry about is how he will be remembered.
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Justice and Fairplay / March 27, 2018
There is little doubt that history will well remember Pres. Sirisena. What he should worry about is how he will be remembered.
Right now, it will not be complimentorarily.
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Native Sudda / March 27, 2018
My3 should retire to Polonnaruwa and spend time with his grandkids. Ra-nil should also retire and go spend time with his My3. The country could then have a sigh of relief and its people should decide whether to yet again appoint a bunch of thugs, murderers, swindlers with no proper education, or take a different turn now that we have witnessed this saga for the last 70 odd years.
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Buddhist / March 28, 2018
If the no confidence motion passes President Sirisena will be written in the history books and remembered as the WORST BACK STABBING TRAITOR EVER TO HOLD THE POSITION OF A PRESIDENT.
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Whisper / March 30, 2018
0 0 The other one Thero was betting is the 2nd generation Vaalaithoodda Kaadai. If Ranil sees he coming back to power will label him as Judas who betrayed the war hero (old King), then he will happily pass it to Vaalaithoodda Kaadai to have it for him all alone. Ponny is certainly out of all these, because he has already gone through all these. Ponny opposing Old Royals is not seen as traitorous. Other two things worth to see that Thero mentioning is abolishing EP and Chandrika’s part. Let see Chandrika first, less complex. She is straight forward within all Appa Diplomacy Sinhala political Intellectuals; probably learned from Vijay. She will be getting, foreseeably, only one chance to get a hold of SLFP; that will be when New King’s power ends in 2020. If she wants Vimukti in politics, she has to grasp SLFP at that time and oust out all New and Old Royals out of SLFP. Right now, if you throw it to the bitch, wanders on the streets, will not pick the SLFP. But, that is not be a bad deal for Chandrika, because that is an enhanced chance for her to gets back her daddy’s party from her enemies. The Attanagalla princes defeated the 17 years of UNP tyranny once before and she can do it again.
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