United National Party General Secretary Tissa Attanayake has said yesterday that the opposition will have the necessary 2/3 majority within the current parliament to amend the constitution.

He added that the government had effectively fragmented with a group of parliamentarians leaving it yesterday, under the leadership of former minister Maithripala Sirisena. Attanayake said other will also join the opposition in the future.

Attanayake said that even if the required 2/3 majority cannot be obtained within the parliament, the victory at the next presidential election by Sirisena will open another option, that of dissolving the parliament. Attanayake was confident that a new election will give a 2/3 majority for the opposition.

Furthermore, he added that the UNP has 75 to 80 percent of the votes of the opposition but was discussing with parties such as the JHU and the JVP for their support in the forthcoming presidential election.