Chief Opposition Whip and Kandy District SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella told Parliament yesterday that an astrologer had helped former Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara become the Speaker by predicting the auspicious time for the vote to be taken.
Participating in the Condolence vote on the former Speaker Kiriella said: “When the day came to elect the new Speaker from the Opposition we fielded WJM. We did not have enough votes; nor did the government. The previous day, we took WJM to a famous astrologer to see whether he would be able to get the Speaker post. The astrologer after inspecting the auspicious times and WJM’s horoscope said that he would had a chance if the election for the post of Speaker was held after 12 noon the following day. So when the House commenced sittings around 10 am we proposed WJM’s name. The government started putting forth arguments against the nomination. They even protested against appointing an Opposition member to the post of Speaker. As the protests and debates continued we waited and finally the vote was taken at 1.00 pm. When the results were announced WJM had got the required number of votes as many in the government ranks too had voted for him.”
