The second reading of the budget proposals for 2023 was passed in Parliament today by a majority of 37 votes.
The proposals received 121 votes in favour and 84 against. One member abstained.
Tamil Makkal Thesiya Kuttani Leader C.V. Wigneswaran was the lone MP to abstain. Eighteen MPs were absent when the vote was taken. They included all MPs of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which had announced that they would abstain from voting for the budget.
Several MPs in the opposition voted for the budget. Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) MP Duminda Dissanayake broke ranks with his party to vote in favour of the Budget, while SLFP Leader Maithripala Sirisena voted against it. Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) Leader Jeevan Thondaman and CWC MP M. Rameshwaran also voted in favour of the budget.
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Nimal Lanza, who is sitting as an independent with the opposition, also voted for the budget, as did MPs John Seneviratne and Priyankara Jayaratne, who are sitting with the opposition as part of a group led by MP Anura Priyadarshana Yapa.
The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) alliance, the Nidahas Janatha Sabhawa led by SLPP MPs Dullas Alahapperuma and Prof. G.L. Peiris and the Uththara Lanka Sabhagaya led by MP Wimal Weerawansa voted against the budget.
A Thai woman walking topless in Arugam Bay town has been arrested by the Police.
The UK government has unveiled a package of reforms to simplify imports from developing countries which allows for more garments manufactured in Sri Lanka to enter the UK tariff-free.
The Cabinet has approved a proposal for Sri Lankans overseas to apply for their passports through an online system via the Lankan diplomatic missions.
Villagers in Nirmalapura, Daluwa, Norochcholai today staged a protest over an incident where a group of Navy officials and sailors had assaulted a resident in the area over night, Police said.
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