The No-Confidence Motion brought against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe by the Mahinda and Joint Opposition was defeated with a majority of 46 votes a short while ago.
The vote on the No-Confidence Motion was taken a short while ago in Parliament following a day-long debate.
122 MPs voted against the motion supporting Ranil while 76 MPs voted in favour of Mahinda. Twenty six MPs were absent during the vote.
Mahinda and his supporters who was confident in winning the No-Confidence Motion brought against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe believed that they can easily topple the current government. It is said that former president had promised few MPs of being promoted to good ministerial posts. Mahinda and his supporters were trying to leave the parliament through the back door to avoid the press.
Minority Tamil and Muslim MPs supported PM Ranil, Opposition Leader R Sampanthan of TNA says that the wording and timing of the no-confidence motion, which seeks to implicate the PM with the bond scam, are indicative of the pursuit of a political agenda through the motion rather than fixing responsibility in regard to the bond scam.
The UNP stood steadfastly behind PM Ranil Wickremesinghe as the hours ticked down to the crucial No-Confidence motion in Parliament today, insisting that they would await the final vote before deciding the way forward for the Govt.
Confident State Minister Harsha de Silva, said that the UNF will defeat the no-confidence motion against the PM without any trouble. He also claimed that it appears that the Mahinda and the JO, which had presented the motion to parliament, has been let down by SLFP by promising nonexistent numbers of votes. “Match over! So ultimately looks like the SLFP let the JO down by promising nonexistent numbers… We, the UNF, will defeat the No Confidence Motion against the PM without any trouble,” de Silva said before the debate.