Sri Lanka opposition targets to defeat the budget at third reading

Sri Lanka major opposition United National Party (UNP) sources say that the party will attempt to defeat the budget at the vote of the third reading which is scheduled to be held on December 14.

UNP MP Lakshman Kiriella issuing a statement accused the government of spending a massive amount of money and threatening some MPs to win the budget at the second reading.

The government won the budget with a majority of 16 votes yesterday. All the government coalition parties voted in support of the budget while UNP, People’s Liberation Front (JVP), Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Western People’s Front (WPF) voted against it. MPs Wijedasa Rajapakse, Nandana Gunathilaka and two TNA MPs abstained from voting.

Extracted from,
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_07/November20114525SL.html

Laxman Kiriella loses his cool and insults a lady reporter

United National Party’s Laxman Kiriella who lost his cool at a party press conference insultingly told a lady reporter of the Colombo press that by holding a piece of paper and a pen one could not become a journalist.

He became seemingly upset when the young reporter of the fair sex asked him a question about his leader’s contentious statement on the Army victory at Thoppigala that has created a hornet’s nest even among his own party supporters.

Kiriella , a lawyer like his own leader quite average even in his own field , started patronizingly giving a lecture to the reporter on good journalism. He has had no formal training in journalism....

....The former UNP Minister Kiriella, who has not studied journalism or practiced it at any time in a recognizable way advised the reporter that she must know the acreage of Thoppigala jungle, the number of trees there (as if he knows), the number of square kilometers etc. before asking questions about his leader‘s unpatriotic and inborn hatred of his people. Needless to say people undoubtedly were amazed by these new Kiriella theories of journalism.

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