World News | Opposition Motion to Censure President Was Poor Parliamentary Strategy, Says Sri Lankan PM

Colombo, May 17 (PTI) Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Tuesday that the Opposition's move to introduce a motion to censure President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was a poor parliamentary strategy, hours after the ruling party blocked a no-confidence motion in the Parliament against the embattled President.

The Motion of Displeasure tabled by the Opposition Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M A Sumanthiran to censure President Rajapaksa was defeated 119-68 in a deeply-divided Parliament, amidst nationwide protests demanding his resignation due to the hardship faced by the people in the wake of worst economic crisis.

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"This was not a vote on the Motion of Displeasure against the President. This was a vote to suspend all Parliament proceedings and immediately debate the Motion of Displeasure," Wickremesinghe said in a series of tweets.

The 73-year-old leader said that he advised Sumanthiran on Monday that this would be self-defeating, as government MPs who were wanting to debate the attacks on their houses would not vote in favour to immediately debate the Motion of Displeasure.

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"It would have been better to allow the debate on the attacks to take place today, and in a few days time these Government MPs would be compelled to vote in favour of the symbolic Motion of Displeasure," he said.

"Now President's MPs would use the defeat of this vote as an opportunity to block the Motion of Displeasure being taken up at a later date," said Wickremesinghe who was appointed as Sri Lanka's 26th prime minister on Thursday as the country was without a government since prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's resignation after violence following an attack on the anti-government protesters by his supporters on May 9.

With the Motion of Displeasure, the Opposition sought to demonstrate how nationwide calls for President Rajapaksa's resignation is reflected in the country's 225-member legislature.

"It would be best if the Opposition used a better strategic approach going forward. Nevertheless, wish to reaffirm our commitment to vote in favour of the motion as communicated earlier last week," he added.

Sri Lanka is going through the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. A crippling shortage of foreign reserves has led to long queues for fuel, cooking gas and other essentials while power cuts and soaring food prices heaped misery on the people.

The economic crisis also triggered a political crisis in Sri Lanka and a demand for the resignation of the powerful Rajapaksas.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has refused to quit, appointed Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister last week and said a young Cabinet under him would introduce key constitutional reforms to curb his powers, amid protests over the nation's worst economic crisis that ousted his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa who is under protection at a naval base following violent attacks on his aides.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)