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Political crisis: NCM against President to Parliament

30 Apr 2022

  • NCMs against President and Govt. to Parliament on same day
  • UNP concerned about NCM against Govt. 
By Our Political Editor No Confidence Motions (NCMs) against the President and the Government are to be submitted to Parliament this week, it is learnt. The NCM against the President was drafted by a team of legal experts led by Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.A. Sumanthiran PC while the NCM against the Government is being moved by the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB). MP Sumanthiran told The Sunday Morning that the NCM against the President was ready and would be presented to Parliament most probably on Wednesday (4) along with the SJB’s NCM against the Government. He explained that many members in the Opposition had proposed that the two NCMs be presented to the House on the same day. “It will otherwise result in various interpretations if one NCM is moved before the other,” he noted. The NCM against the President had been discussed with Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, and United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, who have all expressed support for the motion. According to Sumanthiran, the proposed NCM was taken up by him during a recent discussion with several members of the group of dissident MPs in Parliament, and they had also agreed in principle to it, but had maintained that they were uncertain whether the rest of the members in the group would support such a move. However, the UNP has maintained that while it will support the NCM against the President, there are concerns over supporting the NCM against the Government without a proper alternative mechanism in place to prevent the country from being pushed into an anarchical situation in the event the NCM is passed in Parliament. Sumanthiran explained that although the NCM against the President would not have any legal consequences, its passage in Parliament would create a moral obligation for the President to step down. With the President being accountable to Parliament according to the Constitution, an expression of lack of faith in the President by Parliament will mean the President has a moral obligation to resign. The SJB, while moving the NCM against the Government, is to discuss and reach an official decision on the NCM against the President when the party’s parliamentary group meets this week. Sumanthiran noted that the NCM against the President was motivated by the protestors in Galle Face, who had formulated an impeachment motion against the President.  It is also learnt that the protestors in Galle Face are to issue a declaration today (1), which will also include impeaching the President and calling on all political parties to take on the issue.  


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