The Second Reading of Budget 2019 was passed in Parliament a short while ago with a majority of 43 votes.
By Sandun Jayawardana
A total of 119 MPs voted for the motion while 76 voted against it.
United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MPs from the "Joint Opposition" and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) voted against the Budget while the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) joined the United National Front (UNF) in voting in favour of the Budget.
The two Opposition MPs from the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) including its leader Arumugam Thondaman also voted in favour of the Budget.
A total of 29 MPs were absent at the time of voting.
A number of prominent MPs from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) allied to President Maithripala Sirisena were absent when the vote was taken. They included Chief Opposition Whip Mahinda Amaraweera, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara, Nimal Siripala De Silva and Duminda Dissanayake.
The Committee Stage Debate of Budget 2019 will commence tomorrow (13) and a vote on the Third Reading will be taken on April 5.
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The Cabinet has approved a proposal for Sri Lankans overseas to apply for their passports through an online system via the Lankan diplomatic missions.
Cabinet has approved the appointment of Commodore (retired) M.B.N.A. Premaratne of the Sri Lanka Navy, as the new Commissioner General of Excise.
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