From The Sunday Times
By Chandani Kirinde
With the crucial vote on the Third Reading of the Budget set for tomorrow, defectors of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party are set to make a symbolic crossover to opposition to benches.
Six members of the SLFP announced on Friday they were crossing over to the opposition. A CWC member of the UPFA also joined the UNP ranks on Friday evening.
Meanwhile Chief Opposition Whip John Amaratunga said the UNP would vote against the Budget but added it was unlikely that an attempt would be made to defeat the Budget.
“We have to look at the constitutional and legal implications of such a move but we are keeping all options open,” he said.
Six members of the SLFP announced on Friday they were crossing over to the opposition. A CWC member of the UPFA also joined the UNP ranks on Friday evening.
Meanwhile Chief Opposition Whip John Amaratunga said the UNP would vote against the Budget but added it was unlikely that an attempt would be made to defeat the Budget.
“We have to look at the constitutional and legal implications of such a move but we are keeping all options open,” he said.
The ruling alliance has 152 members in the 225 member parliament without the two JHU members and the seven members who left the Government on Friday. During the second reading, the UNP, the DNA (the JVP) and the TNA voted against the Budget. The Government secured 157 votes while the opposition got 57 votes. The JHU’s, the Ven. Aturaliye Ratana Thera and Champika Ranawaka, stayed away from the vote taken on Nov 2. The vote is set for 5 p.m. tomorrow.
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