10 June 2022 08:38 am Views - 94
By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana
The third reading of the Sri Lanka Electricity (Amendment ) Bill was passed without a vote in Parliament but not before taking up votes for the second reading and for two amendments.
The third reading of the Bill was finally passed without a vote. Some 120 members voted for the second reading of the Bill after a division was called by Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella. Some 36 members voted against. SJB, Jathika Jana Balawegaya voted against while SLFP members including MP Maithripala Sirisena were absent. In addition 13 members abstained, These included Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Tissa Vitharana and M. L. A. M. Attaullah. Around 55 members were absent during the voting time.
SJB MP Harsha de Silva proposed an amendment under which tenders were to be called when generating power more than 10Mw. However, the government opposed this prompting Dr De Silva to call for a division. Accordingly, 51 voted in favour of Dr. de Silva’s proposal while 115 voted against.