Three-day debate next month on motion against Keheliya

COLOMBO: The debate on the no-confidence motion being brought against Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella is scheduled to take place during the first parliamentary week of September.

This was decided at a meeting of the Committee on Parliamentary Business, under the chairmanship of Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

Accordingly, three days of the parliamentary week scheduled to commence on Sept. 5 will be dedicated for the relevant debate, Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella revealed.

Meanwhile, it was also decided that the adjournment debate concerning Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) would be held on Aug. 24, the Parliamentary Department of Communication reported.

The motion of no confidence against the Health Minister was handed over to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena by main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya’s (SJB) General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara and MP Kavinda Jayawardena on July 21, with the signatures of 45 MPs.

The motion was moved over the alleged irresponsible importation of ‘substandard’ medicines and surgical equipment which led to a weakened health sector and even deaths.

The main opposition alleges that the government continued to bring in the relevant ‘substandard’ drugs outside of the procurement and registration process considering it to be a state of emergency, and that the move resulted in several deaths at major hospitals across the country.