A No-Confidence Motion against Health and Indigenous Medicine Minister Dr Rajitha Senaratne was submitted to the Speaker by the Joint Opposition group in Parliament yesterday. The eleven-point NCM has been signed by 39 JO MPs.
The NCM states that the minister has evaded the investigations of complaints against him filed at the Commission to Investigate into Allegations of Bribery or Corruption creating a public impression that he was guilty of those charges.
It also states that the minister created a serious crisis in medical education in Sri Lanka by arbitrarily using the state power to enable businessmen to lay their hands on medical education. It charges the minister has been bias to the SAITM during the appeal court case.The NCM also criticices the move to take over Neville Fernando Hospital in Malabe to the Government, stating that it is an additional burden. It accuses the minister of deliberately holding up the gazette on minimum standards of medical education. It further criticises the minister for not taking immediate action to control dengue. It refers to several allegations on financial misappropriations including that of leasing the Modara fisheries harbour without following the proper tender procedure.
The NCM also alleged that the minister has damaged the judicial independence by influencing the Attorney General’s Department and courts of law over filing cases and taking them up. The NCM had been signed by MPs Dinesh Gunawardena, Wimal Weerawansa, Bandula Gunawardena, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Rohitha Abeygunawardena, Shehan Semasinghe, Geetha Kumaraisnghe, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Dullas Allahapperuma, Kumara Welgama, Priyankara Jayaratne, C B Rathnayake, Prasanna Ranatunga, Mohan P de Silva, Kanchana Wijesekara, Sisira Jayakody, Udaya Padmashantha, Namal Rajapaksa, Piyal Nishantha, Prasanna Ranaweera, Kanaka Herath, Tharaka Balasuriya, Indika Anurudda, Niroshan Premaratne, Jayantha Samaraweera, Johnston Fernando, Vidura Wickramanayake, Shriyani Wijewickrama, Salinda Dissanayake, Weerakumara Dissanayake, Vijitha Berugoda, Ranjith de Soyza, Ramesh Pathirana and five more JO MPs.
The JO previously submitted an NCM against former Minister Ravi Karunanayake, but the minister tendered his resignation prior to taking it up for debate.