Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Colombo District MP Mujibur Rahman has said that the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya has not been withdrawn and will be presented to Parliament at the appropriate time.

He said the Prime Minister should first resign from the post of Education Minister, stressing that she had failed to properly implement the proposed education reforms. Rahman noted that the President had appointed a committee to examine the reforms due to shortcomings in their implementation and had subsequently moved to halt the process, underscoring the need for the Prime Minister to step down from the education portfolio and hand it over to a more suitable individual.

The MP alleged that the failure to properly implement the new education reforms had resulted in a loss of more than Rs. 50 crore to the State, adding that he would present all relevant facts to Parliament in due course.

Rahman also questioned the Government’s credibility in discussing major constitutional changes, including a new Constitution, if it was unable to properly introduce education reforms affecting schoolchildren who would shape the country’s future.

Referring to the Prime Minister’s statement in Parliament last Friday that she had returned hurriedly from Switzerland to face the no-confidence motion, Rahman said this claim was inaccurate. He said the Prime Minister had returned to Sri Lanka only after the conclusion of the Davos Economic Forum, as scheduled.

He further questioned how the Government intended to practically implement new education reforms amid a shortage of nearly 43,000 teachers and the failure to adequately provide smart boards and other essential infrastructure in classrooms.

Reiterating that the no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister has not been withdrawn, Rahman said it would be taken up in Parliament at a suitable time. He added that the matter would be discussed at the SJB parliamentary group meeting scheduled for next week.