Third reading of Budget 2019 passed in Parliament with 119 voting in favour

The vote on the third and final reading of budget 2019 was passed with 119 voting in favour while 74 voted against and 32 were absent during today's vote.

Those who voted in favour included parliamentarians representing the United National Party, Tamil National Alliance and the Ceylon Workers Congress.

The Joint Opposition and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna voted against the budget while the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) were absent during the voting.

Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera presented the Budget for 2019 (the second reading of the Budget) in Parliament on March 5, 2019.

The second reading of the Budget debate was held from March 6-12. The Second Reading of the Appropriation Bill (2019) was passed on  March 12, 2019 by the House with a simple majority of 43 votes with 119 voting in favor and 76 opposed.

The Third Reading of the Appropriation Bill which debates the expenditure heads for each ministry, commenced on March 13 and continued until today. 

During the committee stage of the debate the expenditures heads for Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development and Ministry of Internal and Home Affairs and Provincial Councils and Local Government were defeated.