Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Kavinda Jayawardena has accused the Negombo Municipal Council of misconduct during the passage of its budget, claiming the vote was bypassed despite opposition objections.
Speaking to the media, Jayawardena said SJB councillors had raised concerns about both the conduct of the council and shortcomings in the budget proposal. However, the Mayor of Negombo announced that the budget had been passed and left the council chambers without conducting a formal vote.
“We had prior information that certain NPP members and other opposition members were ready to vote against the budget proposal. The Mayor acted arbitrarily knowing that there would be votes against it,” Jayawardena said.
An SJB councillor alleged that the Mayor had deliberately denied members of opposition parties, including the SJB, SLFP, and SLPP, the opportunity to vote on the proposal.
Meanwhile, SJB member Charith Abeysinghe highlighted similar concerns at the Horana Urban Council, where he claimed that ruling NPP councillors had engaged in irregular conduct during their own budget vote.
According to Abeysinghe, a tense situation arose when amended budget proposals were tabled just five minutes before the scheduled vote. Opposition councillors alleged that the council’s internal clock was manipulated to show a five-minute discrepancy, effectively allowing the ruling members to declare the budget passed before the opposition arrived.
“When the opposition councillors entered to vote, they were informed that the budget had already been passed,” Abeysinghe said. (Newswire)