“This is a Rs. 2,312 billion Budget. Out of that Rs.320 is an insignificant amount and we can proceed without it too, but we decided to present an amendment again to follow the tradition. The poor attendance of MPs was a fault on our part.
We will get those Expenditure Heads duly passed in Parliament,” the Prime Minister said.Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa observed that there had been previous instances where Expenditure Heads of certain Ministries were defeated adding that the Expenditure Heads of Ministries held by Arumugam Thondaman and late Ratnasiri Wickremanayake were defeated in the past.
He said in those times, the then Speaker summoned them for a discussion and decided on the future course of action. He requested the Government to adhere to the procedure followed in the past without finding easy ways out.
UPFA MP Bandula Gunawardena asked the Government to explain to the House as to what steps it intends to take after the defeat of the Expenditure Heads of two ministries.He said the defeated Expenditure Heads must be presented for Cabinet approval again in the form of a Supplementary Estimate before being taken up in Parliament.
Leader of the House and Minister Lakshman Kiriella, observing that the defeat only means Rs. 10 cut from each Expenditure Head, said that those would be re-presented according to the Standing Orders. “The Government had already passed a Vote on Account for the first four months of the year. We will get the Expenditure Heads of those two ministries passed before the end of April. There is nothing to get excited about,” he remarked.