{"id":196606,"date":"2018-12-04T17:13:30","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T11:43:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=196606"},"modified":"2018-12-04T18:12:57","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T12:42:57","slug":"if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/","title":{"rendered":"If You Want Elections, Come To Parliament And Present Motion: Ranil Tells UPFA"},"content":{"rendered":"
UNP Leader and ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe<\/a><\/strong> today challenged the UPFA to present a motion in Parliament\u00a0if they think a General Election is necessary.\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Speaking to the media from Temple Trees, Wickremesinghe said they were ready to go for an election with the consent of all political parties in Parliament. “We have nothing against holding elections. If all political parties are in favour of an election, how can we oppose?\u00a0 Wickremesinghe asked.<\/p>\n

“However, before any election,” the UNP Leader said, “there has to be a legal government in the country.\u00a0 It is the legislature that has the power to dissolve Parliament. The President only gets that power four and a half years after the Parliament’s first meeting. This is clearly stated in the constitution.”<\/p>\n

“Those who are afraid of elections attempt to hold elections under illegal governments. They are scared to hold elections under a lawful government and a democratic\u00a0framework,” he added.<\/p>\n

“The President and all political parties are duty-bound to protect the\u00a0Constitution. If someone finds it hard to protect the Constitution and adhere to its framework, they have no right to remain in office,” Wickremesinghe said.<\/p>\n

“Even Hitler said he had the people’s support. He went on to change the Constitution based on the notion of his massive public support. Some dictators won elections and referendums with resounding majorities. But, what matters is whether your actions are in line with the law, not the popular support” Wickremesinghe explained.<\/p>\n

“Those who talk about Kosovo, don’t even know where it is located. They don’t even know the difference between Kosovo and “Kos Gas,” Wickremesinghe said, responding to a statement issued by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, last Sunday.<\/p>\n

“This game has to stop now. If they continue to violate the Consitution, we have to consider them the enemies of the Constitution,” Wickremesinghe said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":194696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2186,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-featured-news","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nIf You Want Elections, Come To Parliament And Present Motion: Ranil Tells UPFA - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"If You Want Elections, Come To Parliament And Present Motion: Ranil Tells UPFA - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-04T11:43:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-04T12:42:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Ranil.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"699\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/\",\"name\":\"If You Want Elections, Come To Parliament And Present Motion: Ranil Tells UPFA - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Ranil.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-04T11:43:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-04T12:42:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Ranil.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Ranil.jpg\",\"width\":699,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"If You Want Elections, Come To Parliament And Present Motion: Ranil Tells UPFA\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"If You Want Elections, Come To Parliament And Present Motion: Ranil Tells UPFA - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"If You Want Elections, Come To Parliament And Present Motion: Ranil Tells UPFA - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2018-12-04T11:43:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-12-04T12:42:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":699,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Ranil.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/","name":"If You Want Elections, Come To Parliament And Present Motion: Ranil Tells UPFA - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Ranil.jpg","datePublished":"2018-12-04T11:43:30+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-04T12:42:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Ranil.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Ranil.jpg","width":699,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/if-you-want-elections-come-to-parliament-and-present-motion-ranil-tells-upfa\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"If You Want Elections, Come To Parliament And Present Motion: Ranil Tells UPFA"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Ranil.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196606"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":196610,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196606\/revisions\/196610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}