The ruling party in Sri Lanka on Friday survived a crucial budget vote in parliament despite attempts by the main opposition to woo members to vote against prompting a dissolution of parliament followed by fresh elections, a government minister said, according to dpa. At the final voting of the budget on Friday evening in the 225- seat parliament, 114 members voted in favour of the budget and 67 voted against while 38 abstained and six more were absent. The speaker votes only in the event of a tie. The Marxist JVP, which voted against the budget in the second voting last month, this time decided to abstain from voting helping the government to pass the budget with a convincing majority. The government has declared that any attempt to defeat the budget would mean that the current military operations against Tamil rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) will be interrupted. The main opposition United National Party (UNP) led by former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe made attempts to woo ruling party members to vote against the budget, but appeared to have failed in their attempt. In the event of a defeat of the budget the government has a second opportunity to present a fresh budget under the constitution and failing to pass it would force fresh elections. The ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), which was elected to power in 2004, can remain in power until 2010 and the government has ruled out snap elections. The government has stepped up military operations against the rebels and wants the public to back the campaign claiming that they are on the verge of defeating the rebels.
