The Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) yesterday decided to expel the eight Parliamentarians who voted in favour of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution from the party’s Parliamentary Group meeting.
The decision had been made at a SJB Parliamentary Group meeting held under the leadership of leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday evening.
“This evening,the SJB decided to immediately expel from our Parliamentary Group all SJB MPs who voted with the Government to pass the autocratic 20th Amendment to the Constitution in violation of the unanimous SJB decision not to do so,” SJB MP Harsha de Silva said in a Twitter post.
The MP said further disciplinary action will follow. Earlier, twenty-three Samagi Jana Balawegaya MPs have yesterday (23) requested its General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara in writing to take disciplinary action against their MPs who voted in favour of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution.
The SJB MPs who voted in favour are Diana Gamage, Nazeer Ahamed, Mohammed Raheem, Faizal Cassim, H.M.M. Harees, M.S. Thowfeek, Arvind Kumar and Ishak Rahuman.
The letter said, “As the General Secretary of the SJB you promised us to remove any MP who would vote in favour of the 20th Amendment during our meeting held on October 22. We would like to thank Rauff Hakeem and Rishad Bathiudeen for not voting for the 20th Amendment. However, their MPs have voted in favour. So either these MPs should be removed from their own political parties, if not, the SJB should remove both these parties. The SJB needs to secure its discipline as a political party.”
Twenty two SJB MPs had signed the letter. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress members who voted in favour of the 20th amendment met in parliament yesterday to discuss their future political plans. SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem, the only Parliamentarian from the party who voted against too, had attended the meeting, SLMC sources said. The SLMC members had reportedly discussed what action they can take if the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) decides to expel them.
The SLMC during the last Parliamentary election contested under the SJB.
