They had planned to boycott vote-taking on Third reading

A threat held out by the Betel-leaf politicos on board yahapalanaya not to say ‘aye’ for the 2017 Budget had reportedly stuck to their guns until the issue was resolved minutes before taking the vote on the third and the final reading, they say.

The Betel-leaf group in Diyawanna had made this threat saying that some Diyawanna members of the government had criticized them at a media briefing and they wanted to boycott the vote on the Third reading as a retaliatory measure. However, the move was pre-empted at the eleventh hour through the intercession by stalwarts from both parties. Green party’s secretarial one from Kegalle and his Betel-leaf party counterpart from Hambantota had made a concerted effort to make peace, Diyawanna sources say.

All rebels had later turned up to vote for the Budget. However, the flamboyant one from Badulla had said: “This can be the last Budget of this government for which we may raise our hands!”