A few more Parliamentarians are yet to sign the no-confidence motion (NCM) against Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara, and it is expected to be handed over to Speaker of Parliament Dr Jagath Wickramaratne within this week, Chief Opposition Whip Gayantha Karunathilleka said.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (13), he said that the Opposition is in the final stages of collecting signatures and would submit the motion to the Speaker once the remaining MPs have signed it. “There are a few more Members who are yet to sign it. Once they do, we will hand it over to the Speaker. We expect to submit it within this week.”  The Opposition began collecting signatures for the motion on 10 July, accusing Nanayakkara of failing to fulfil his Ministerial responsibility to safeguard the lives of Prison officers and inmates who were killed during the recent Negombo Prison riot.

Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa inaugurated the signing of the motion in Parliament, with several Opposition MPs signing it immediately afterwards, including Sarvajana Balaya Leader, attorney Dilith Jayaweera and New Democratic Front MP Chamara Sampath Dasanayake.

The move follows the deadly Negombo Prison clash, which claimed the lives of 28 people, including Prison officers and inmates. The Opposition has claimed that the tragedy resulted from gross negligence and failures within the prison system, which falls under the Justice Ministry, and has maintained that the subject Minister should resign.Attempts by The Daily Morning to contact Nanayakkara for comment proved unsuccessful. Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Opposition MP Namal Rajapaksa was also unavailable for comment when contacted to ascertain whether they would support the NCM.