Legality of no faith motion against speaker questionable; Minister

By Yohan Perera   

The legality of the no confidence motion which is being brought against Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene is questionable, Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said yesterday.   
“The opposition claims that the Speaker got the Online Safety Bill enacted violating the constitution. It is not the Speaker who enacts a Bill. It is done by the MPs in Parliament. The Speaker is not even allowed to participate in parliamentary debates. Also the Supreme Courts never force the legislature to amend any Bill. It only looks into whether a Bill violates any section of the constitution or not. 

How can one accuse the Speaker of violating the constitution in such a scenario? Therefore the legality of the no faith motion that is being brought against the Speaker is questionable,” the Minister said.   

“Ruling party MPs will decide on their stance on the no faith motion on the basis of its legal validity,” he added.   

Minister Rajapakshe also denounced the claim made by the opposition that appointing of Deshabandu Thennekoon as the new IGP by the constitutional council was illegal. “If the constitutional council vote to decide on the appointment of IGP is illegal most of the Bills that have been approved by Parliament in the Sri Lankan history become illegal as well.
 “Most of the bills that have been enacted by Parliament by a simple majority out of the number of MPs present during the voting time throughout the history. Some have abstained during few occasions. Is the opposition saying that all legislations passed by Parliament in the past are illegal? “The Minister questioned.   

He said four members of the constitutional council had voted in favour of Thennekoon while two had voted against while two members abstained. “A majority in the constitutional council have clearly approved the appointment of IGP,” he said.