Speaker of Sri Lanka parliament Karu Jayasuriya announced that there will be no change in the post of the Opposition Leader.
Making a special statement in parliament, the Speaker said in accordance with the continuing long-established parliamentary tradition, the leader of the party which is not a party of the government and holds a majority of members in opposition, has been accepted as the Leader of Opposition.
Accordingly, in the current 8th parliament of Sri Lanka, the leader of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) party, Member of Parliament Rajavarothiam Sampanthan has been accepted as the Opposition Leader of parliament by the Speaker on 03 September 2015.
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“As such, I hereby declare that my final decision is as the Speaker of this august assembly, I cannot constitutionally or traditionally make a change in the post of Opposition Leader of Parliament,” the Speaker said in his long statement.
A letter signed by eight United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Members of Parliament requesting the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament post to be given to UPFA MP Dinesh Gunawardena has been submitted to the Speaker on 30th July.
The letter claimed that 70 members in parliament are representing the UPFA and therefore the Opposition Leader should be given to the UPFA parliamentarian.
The Speaker referred the matter to the UPFA since all those signed the request were UPFA members.
General Secretary of UPFA Minister Mahinda Amaraweera says held discussion with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the main party of UPFA and informed the party’s stance to the Speaker.
