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Unfazed by party warnings, UPFA councillors extend rebellion
More local councils are facing crisis as UPFA members shrug off warnings of disciplinary action and continue to vote against budgets presented by their chiefs.
Budgets of four more councils – Ja-Ela, Hingurakgoda, Homagama and Bulathsinhala – were defeated this week.
The moves come amid claims that some senior members of the UPFA have influenced Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) members to vote against budgets for political gain.
The second reading of the Homagama budget occurred on Monday (December 30) and was defeated by two votes.
Homagama PS chairman A.D. Kumarasiri declared he would stay on in the position because the party hierarchy had not asked him to resign. The Local Authorities Elections Ordinance states that the chairman must resign if his budget is rejected on a second vote.
The chairman lodged a complaint with police stating that he had been stripped of his position and official possessions after the budget vote.
“My official vehicle and other things were forcefully taken from me and I wish to take legal action against those who did so,” he added.
“We can clearly see that there was an ulterior motive behind the decision of the councillors to oppose the budget,” Mr. Kumarasiri said. “When I drew up the budget I used proposals and ideas that came from fellow members of the PS.”
He feared budgets were being defeated at the instigation of senior political members.
“There is a conspiracy behind this. The General Secretary to the UPFA Susil Premajayantha and General Secretary to the SLFP Maithripala Sirisena clearly stated on three occasions that party members shouldn’t vote against the budgets,” he said.
Mr. Kumarasiri said the Elections Commissioner should formally instruct him to step down from office and hand over his post to the next eligible councillor.
JVP Opposition councillor Ajith Premakumara said UPFA members had voted against the budget despite warnings of disciplinary action because the chairman had misused his powers and was allegedly engaged in a number of corrupt activities.
He said that the councillors had several times told party leaders about the alleged corruption but no action had been taken against the chairman.
“This is the only chance that the members had to overpower him and we used the opportunity,” Mr Premakumara said.
The chairman of the Hingurakgoda PS Susantha Gnanarathne claimed that a senior member of the UPFA, whose son was the PS deputy chairman, had engineered the defeat of the budget in order to get his son promoted to the chairman’s position.
“I came to this post because the people voted for me,” said Mr. Gnanarathne. “Our council became the best in our district for a number of years because I worked hard to bring it to this position.”
The chairman had been unable to attend the council meeting for the second budget vote as he had been hospitalised due to sudden illness that day. Six other councillors also failed to appear. Six members who had been present voted against it, three voted in favour and one abstained.
Mr. Gnanarathne said there had been a dispute during the second reading of the budget and that he had asked officials to repeat the vote.
The budget of the Ja-ela Urban Council was defeated at its second reading by five votes on Tuesday (December 31). Three UNP members, the deputy chairman and four UPFA members voted against the budget. The chairman, Upali Arambewatta, and one UPFA member voted for it.
The UPFA-controlled Bulathsinhala PS budget was also defeated for the second time. It was rejected by a majority of 10 votes. Chairman Thusitha Kularatna was the only member who voted in favour of the budget. The other eight members of the UPFA voted against it together with three UNP members.
Last week the UPFA leadership met to discuss the wave of rebellion in UPFA councils and decided that any UPFA councillor who voted against a budget would not be appointed chairman. Thus new chairmen were named for several councils this week including Rajanganaya and Medawachchiya, following on from new appointments made last month for the Kesbewa, Peliyagoda and Mirigama councils.
In Matara a political battle is simmering between a chairman and a newly appointed deputy chairman following the defeat of the Matara PS budget.
The Sunday Times has learned that the dispute has arose after a person placed at number six in the preferential vote list was proposed for the chairman’s post instead of the next eligible person.
Additional reporting
by Jayaruk