The UNP rebel group yesterday said the no confidence motion in Parliament against Minister Milinda Moragoda had boomeranged on the UNP.

The group’s spokesman R. A. D. Sirisena told The Island that it was only a political gimmick cooked up by SLFP defectors Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathy Sooriyarachchi as they did not have anything on their agenda to place before the people this month, though they had promised to topple the government.

Mangala and Sripathy wanted to cover up their shame for their inability to bring any more members of the Government to the Opposition. They have created more divisions within the UNP pushing the party into further turmoil, he said.

Even the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had dealt with the matter without the party’s consent. Wickremesinghe worked like a purchasing officer who took the stuff first and later paid whatever price asked, rather than asking for the quotations first and buying the goods later. He took decisions on his own first and informed the party later. The no confidence motion was signed by Dilip Wedaarchchi at the last minute when Lakshman Kirielle who was to sign the motion was not there, Sirisena said.

The Opposition had more important duties than this. If they really wanted to bring a no confidence motion they could have a motion against Deputy Minister Mervin Silva first, he said.

The UNP tried to topple the government by holding Jana Bala and Jana Rala protests and after that the UNP leader had started visiting fairs and market places. Their agenda this month is the no faith motion against Minister Moragoda which is a political allegation regarding a matter that dates back to 1991. Milinda Moragoda had made a special statement in Parliament on June 8, 2005 and given his explanation. But the UNP leader is now trying to hark back to something that had happened more than 15 years ago as the UNP has no credible agenda to place before the people, he said.