Sri Lanka's New Government Passes First Parliament Test

Sri Lanka's new government cleared its first test in parliament Saturday, securing a crushing majority for a welfare budget unveiled last month.

Legislators voted 164-1 to approve the January 29 budget that raised salaries of 1.6 million public servants, slashed food and fuel prices while slapping new taxes on the most profitable private companies.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the near unanimous vote augured well for the country, which voted Mahinda Rajapakse out of office at January 8 elections after a decade of autocratic rule.

"This is a first step towards a new political culture in this country," Wickremesinghe said adding that the vote demonstrated they were working as a unity government.

Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP), the then biggest opposition party, backed the election of President Maithripala Sirisena who defected from Rajapakse's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) to emerge the common opposition presidential candidate.

Although the UNP had only 41 seats in the 225 member parliament at the time, Wickremesinghe has secured the support of many SLFP legislators after Sirisena's victory.

Saturday's vote is the first demonstration that the new government enjoys a majority in the house.

Although Wickremesinghe was elevated from the position of opposition leader to prime minister a day after Sirisena's victory, he had not proved his majority in parliament before Saturday's vote.