UPFA Parliamentarian Wasantha Senanayake has said that External Affairs Minister Prof G.L. Peiris is a powerless figurehead and therefore should resign from, his post.

The UPFA has also asked authorities not to limit themselves to speaking of foreign forces, but to make a concerted effort to resolve problems in the Foreign Service.

Multiple media reports claimed a few weeks ago that Senanayake was to cross over to the opposition. The UPFA Parliamentarian submitted a set of proposals to the President with regard to a constitutional amendment.

MP Senanayake, speaking to News First news channel yesterday, has further said that he is yet to receive a response to a letter he addressed to External Affairs Minister Professor G.L. Peiris, seeking clarifications from the Minister regarding the contract awarded for the 2009 refurbishment of the official residence of the Permanent Representative in Geneva.

Apart from that, other allegations that have been levelled against the ministry - including giving the President unsuitable advice to visit Oxford Union and trying to jeopardize Indo-Lanka relations - have not yet been probed, the Parliamentarian added.

Senanayake has added that Prof. Peiris's silence convinced him that he is powerless in the foreign ministry which is actually controlled by other individuals. “If this is the case, a learned man like Peiris should not stay on the job and the best thing he could do is to resign,” Senanayake also said.