Budget passed

By Lasantha Weerakulasuriya

The second reading of the Budget for 2010 was passed in Parliament yesterday, amidst a commotion with 138 MPs voting for and 75 against --- while 11 members including Ven. Athulaliye Ratana, G L Peiria and Mahinda Samarasinghe, were absent when the vote was taken.
United National Party MP John Amaratunga asked for a vote by name , and while the vote was being taken a water bottle was thrown towards UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe from the back rows of the government benches. Ultimately the bottle hit MP John Amaratunga and it intensified the commotion in Parliament.
After the vote was taken leader of the house Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva urged Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa to take appropriate action against the opposition, and claimed that they will forward a motion to punish the opposition MPs who created a commotion.