Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, Jagath Wickramaratne, has informed that the opposition’s motion of No-Confidence against the Deputy Minister of Defence, Aruna Jayasekara, is not in order and cannot be accepted in its present form.
Addressing the Parliament today, Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne said under Articles 42, 43 and 44 of the Constitution, collective and individual ministerial responsibility lies with the Cabinet of Ministers.
He pointed out that a Deputy Minister, though a Member of Parliament, is not a member of the Cabinet and does not bear direct constitutional responsibility to this House in the present context.
The Speaker further said that there is no provision in the Constitution for a No-Confidence Motion against a Deputy Minister.
“If such a motion is to be accepted today, it would establish an undesirable precedent contrary to constitutional and parliamentary precedents. Having taken into consideration all these facts, I wish to inform this House that the motion of no-confidence against the Deputy Minister of Defence is not in order and cannot be accepted in its present form,” he concluded.
A group of Opposition MPs submitted the No-Confidence Motion against Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekara to the Speaker in August this year.
The Opposition submitted the No-Confidence Motion against the Deputy Minister of Defence, citing serious concerns over his alleged involvement and conflict of interest in the investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks.
The motion raises alarm over Jayasekara’s role as the Commander of the Security Force (East) during key incidents linked to the Easter attacks, such as the Vavunathivu police killings and the Sainthamaruthu explosion.
The full statement of Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne;
I wish to make this announcement in furtherance of the announcement made by me on 19.08.2025 regarding the Motion titled the ‘No-Confidence Motion’, submitted by a group of 32 Members of Parliament in the Opposition including the Hon. Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, on 12.08.2025 against Hon. Major General (Rtd.) Aruna Jayasekera, M.P., Deputy Minister of Defence.
I have carefully considered this motion in light of the provisions of the Constitution, the Standing Orders of the Parliament and established parliamentary practices and precedents.
I also studied the traditions and procedures followed in other Commonwealth and democratic legislations such as UK House of Commons, India’s Lok Sabha and Australia’s House of Representatives in this regard.
Under Articles 42, 43 and 44 of the Constitution of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, collective and individual ministerial responsibility lies with the Cabinet of Ministers. A Deputy Minister, though a Member of Parliament, is not a member of the Cabinet and does not bear direct constitutional responsibility to this House in the present context.
The Constitution clearly recognizes that no-confidence motions may be brought against the Government as a whole, while the precedent recognizes no-confidence motions against the Prime Minister, or an individual Cabinet Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. But, there is no provision for such a motion against a Deputy Minister.
Therefore, if such a motion is to be accepted today, it would establish an undesirable precedent contrary to constitutional and parliamentary precedents.
Accordingly, having taken into consideration of all these facts, I wish to inform this House that the motion of no-confidence against the Deputy Minister of Defence is not in order and cannot be accepted in its present form. (Newswire)
