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S.Lankan Govt to Postpone Emergency, No-confidence Vote
The Sri Lankan government decided on Wednesday to postpone the vote on the extension of emergency regulations in the Parliament scheduled on Friday amid fears that it might be defeated by opposition parties.
Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Kitulgoda said that he has been informed that the emergency will not be taken up for debate as scheduled on Friday and no new date has been set.
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) and the leftist JVP or People's Liberation Front together with three other Tamil political parties have announced that they would vote against the extension of emergency regulations, which was first imposed in March 1983 and later extended on a monthly basis.
The government insists that if the emergency regulations are not extended the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam will be automatically lifted.
The UNP has countered that even if the emergency regulations are defeated in Parliament, the president is empowered to issue a fresh proclamation declaring an emergency islandwide and all security measures could be held in place.
Meanwhile, Public Administration Minister Richard Pathirana refused to allow the vote for no-confidence motion to be taken up in the Parliament later this month and indicated that the earliest date could be in August.
UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said that even if the government refuses to grant a debate on the vote they will start the process on July 16.
The vote on the emergency regulations is seen as a crucial test before the vote for no-confidence motion tabled by UNP against the government on June 22.
The ruling People's Alliance coalition government was reduced to a minority in the 225-member Parliament on June 20 when its key Muslim ally the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress pulled out due to the dismissal of its leader Rauf Hakeem by President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
The government has now 109 seats in the Parliament, four short of the 113-seat simple majority for its survival.
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