By Dilrukshi Handunnetti
Our Lobby Correspondent

Many may consider that a no confidence motion against the government is long overdue given the country's flagging human rights record, but instead, parliament last week saw the government and the opposition arguing on a no faith motion that was finally ruled by the Speaker as a lapsed motion.

The opposition this time appeared to have borrowed the government's manthram, to see a conspiracy in everything. So it was natural to have Chief Opposition Whip Joseph Michael Perera alleging that the UNP no confidence motion has been stealthily removed from the Order Book due to a government conspiracy.

Fuelling the conspiracy theory further was Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who alleged that if there indeed was a conspiracy, one should view it in the light that the newspaper that broke the controversial hedging story that provided the basis for the no faith had its editor assassinated in broad daylight, just the day before it was scheduled for debate.

"Who is going to sit and quietly debate it on that day? There was such chaos following the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunge," said Wickremesinghe in parliament.

A conspiracy

On Tuesday morning, it was Joseph Michael Perera who alleged there was a conspiracy to prevent the UNP sponsored no confidence motion from being debated in the House. This claim was aided by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who alleged that the newspaper editor who published a series of articles on the dubious hedging deal was slain just the day before the parliamentary debate was to take place.

What is more, Wickremesinghe went further and sought to even link the Wickrematunge assassination to the motion. If he was feeling mischievous, the government did not find it amusing by the grave faces they wore.

But Joseph Michael Perera's argument was that the government opposed the idea of a two-day debate as requested by the UNP. "And now the motion has been mysteriously taken off the Order Book. None of us knew," said he, crying foul.

In response to Perera's accusation, it was Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara who was heard responding. He insisted that much of the parliamentary traditions practiced in the House of Commons and Lok Sabha were taken into consideration before the motion was taken off the Order Book, but he pledged to give a ruling on it the next day.

In favour of the government

But Perera hit back saying that the Chair took advice when decisions were to be in favour of the government but when it came to the UNP sponsored no faith, there was an alleged conspiracy to prevent it from being taken up for debate.

"It was submitted under my name and as such, it was a matter that should have been discussed and decided upon within the Well of the House," insisted the Opposition Leader.

"I made a speech on January 9 about certain groups that cannot be controlled by the government were having free reign in this country. I was referring to the assassination of The Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge that day. Someone had edited the copy of my speech given to the BBC. It had some songs playing right in the middle of the speech where I have made cathartic references to the goon squads in operation," said Wickremesinghe.

Government refusal

But the government refused to alter its position on the plight of the no faith. So Chief Government Whip, Dinesh Gunawardena insisted that the motion had lapsed. "There were initial problems about the motion as there were references to matters before court and to President Mahinda Rajapakse. But at the party leaders' meeting, we agreed that some aspects could be discussed. We agreed to a single day's debate instead of two, but also conceded to extended hours of debate to accommodate the opposition's call for a two day exercise," he explained.

Gunawardena nevertheless alleged that the UNP decided  not to move the motion on January 9, and as such the motion has lapsed.

"A no faith has to be urgently debated. That's the whole idea behind it. While you were clamouring for a two-day debate, there was a smear campaign against the government too. We thought the best course of action was to give an early date, hence January 9. But the UNP ran away and now don't shout. You defeated your own motion and naturally, a lapsed motion cannot be included in the Order Book," declared Gunawardena.

No question of the bill lapsing

But UNP frontliner Lakshman Kiriella intervened to argue that there was no question of the bill lapsing. According to the Standing Orders, it had to be withdrawn in writing. "We never withdrew it," he insisted.

 The matter was not so easily resolved and the UNP was not too happy when the Speaker on Wednesday ruled that the motion has indeed lapsed.

He noted the fact that none of the UNP legislators stood up to move the motion when their names were called on the scheduled day. "Nobody stood up. So what should be done was later decided. We were guided by the traditions of not just the House of Commons but also the Indian and Canadian legislative practices. We then arrived at the conclusion that the motion has indeed lapsed. Therefore, it was not necessary to have it included in the Order Book," he ruled.

Window of opportunity

Lokubandara however kept a window of opportunity open - stating that the motion was not debated at all,  and hence there was nothing to preclude it from being moved yet again. But Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was not too convinced.

He queried as to whether the Speaker referred to the three systems only to study the instances of when motions lapsed due to not being moved. "We need to know clearly because this will create a precedent. Clarity in the ruling is very important," he said, asking for a further explanation from the Speaker.

But the UNP was ready to move the motion all over again - and it was so done on the same day.

Now that the heated debate on the motion's validity is over, there will be much hot air when the debate proper takes place. Just as much as the UNP and the government traded insults on Thursday over qualifying for the Guinness Book Of Records, the UNP with 15 electoral defeats and the government with 15 journalists killed, this debate too will generate much heat and fury. But in the end, the misdoings highlighted will not get rectified. As some now refer to the Sri Lankan style of democracy, welcome to SLimbabwe!