The maiden budget for 2024 of the Kolonna Pradeshiya Sabha, currently under the control of the National People’s Power (NPP), was defeated today (06) in its first reading. Despite the NPP successfully forming the council, all opposition groups united to vote against the budget.
The monthly council session of the Kolonna Pradeshiya Sabha commenced today at approximately 10:00 AM, presided over by Chairman Sampath Gunasinghe. A vote was then held on the budget’s first reading.
Out of the 19 total seats in the Kolonna Pradeshiya Sabha, the National People’s Power held 9 seats, while the opposition, including the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (5), Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (3), United National Party (1), and Sarvajana Balaya Party (1), collectively held 10 seats. This gave the opposition a clear majority in terms of seat count. However, the NPP managed to secure control of the Kolonna Pradeshiya Sabha through a secret ballot during the election of the chairman.
Nevertheless, in today’s vote on the first reading of the maiden budget, the opposition groups leveraged their majority to defeat the budget.
Following this incident, critics are suggesting that a second wave of the National People’s Power’s grassroots power decline has begun. They point out that the first wave is already underway, as evidenced by defeats in cooperative elections. This budget defeat in the Kolonna Pradeshiya Sabha raises serious questions about the NPP’s political power and governance capabilities for the upcoming year.
