NCM against Bathiudeen should be listed first

It was handed over first

By Kelum Bandara

The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) yesterday insisted that the no-confidence motion (NCM) against Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen should be listed first over a similar motion handed over by the JVP against the government. 

  Addressing a press conference on behalf of the Economic Research Unit of the party, former Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said the motion against Minister Bathiudeen was handed over first. Also, he said it had put the government in a spot because some Catholic MPs had vowed to support the motion seeking to unseat Mr. Bathiudeen.   

Therefore, he said the opposition had a stronger support base for the motion against Mr. Bathiudeen rather than for the motion by the JVP.   

Besides, he said security had taken a new dimension of foreign relations in the aftermath of serial bombings on April 21 as the respective countries had insisted on having their own security personnel to safeguard their investments.