Left Democratic Front leader and UPFA MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara today proposed fellow UPFA MP Dinesh Gunawardena to be appointed as the Opposition Leader.

Speaking at a press briefing in Colombo, he said that it was unethical for the SLFP to hold both Cabinet Ministerial posts as well as the position of the Opposition Leader.

Nanayakkara elaborated that when there are SLFP ministers, the incumbent Opposition leader will not be able to criticize ministers or the government.

Therefore, if the Speaker of the House calls for a new Opposition leader, Dinesh Gunawardena's name will be proposed, he said.

Nanayakkara rejected that the government formed yesterday was a national government. The so-called ‘National Government’ is effectively a coalition government of UNP and SLFP, he said.

National Freedom Front leader and UPFA MP Wimal Weerawansa and Provincial Councilor Udaya Gammanpila endorsed Nanayakkara’s views.

Dinesh Gunawardena is the leader of the Mahajana Eksath Peranuna and is a UPFA MP. He was the Chief Government Whip in the parliament before the January presidential election.

Nanayakkara, Gunawardena, Weerawansa and Gammanpila are the leaders who continue to urge the return of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to politics.