Update : Expenditure Heads of Provincial Councils, Megapolis Ministries defeated

The "Joint Opposition" faction of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) mounted a stunning coup by defeating a number of Expenditure Heads of the Ministry of Internal & Home Affairs and Provincial Councils & Local Government by 15 votes and all Expenditure Heads of the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development by 14 votes during a vote in Parliament this evening (28).

By Sandun Jayawardana
A total of 38 MPs voted against the Expenditure Heads of the Ministry of Internal & Home Affairs and Provincial Councils & Local Government while the Government could only must 23 votes. The vote on the Expenditure Heads of theMinistry of Megapolis and Western Development received only 24 votes while 38 votes were cast against it.

The only two Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs who were present in the chambers voted in support of the Government.

It all seemed as if the Expenditure Heads of both Ministries will be passed unanimously, as had been done throughout the Committee Stage debate of Budget 2019 for almost two weeks. However, while Speaker Karu Jayasuriya was reading through the numbers of each expenditure head asking if a division (vote) was needed, UPFA Ratnapura District MP Ranjith de Zoysa suddenly stood up and said the Opposition wished to call a vote.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya announced that the Expenditure Head Numbers 260 - 279, 312 - 319 and 321 of the Ministry of Internal & Home Affairs and Provincial Councils & Local Government had been defeated while both Expenditure Heads (162 and 311) of the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development had also been defeated

Accordingly, the quorum bells were sounded, at which point a group of UPFA MPs who had been outside the chamber, entered the House. The Government was clearly surprised by the move, as evidenced by the fact that only a few MPs were left in the Government side.

UPDATE : Tablehead expenditure for Megapolis and Western Development Ministry defeated

The vote on the tablehead expenditure of the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development was also defeated in Parliament a short while ago.

A total of 20 votes were recorded in favour of the budgetary allocations while 38 voted against it.

Tablehead expenditure for Home Affairs Ministry budget defeated

The vote for the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Home Affairs was defeated a short while ago.

The final results stood at 20 in favour with 38 against the tablehead expenditure.

Parliament had decided to vote for the budget after the Oppostition had called for a division during today's parliamentary sessions.