Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Rajitha Senaratne stated that the opposition leader position should go to either the Tamil National Alliance or the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.

“No one who belongs to the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) or to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) is eligible for the post,” he told ‘The Nation’ newspaper on Friday. He explained that even Nimal Siripala de Silva is not eligible to be opposition leader.

Senaratne added that Dinesh Gunawardena also cannot hold the opposition leader post since he is also a UPFA member in parliament.

A section of UPFA MPs are claiming that Nimal Siripala de Silva cannot be the opposition leader since the SLFP joined the government. They suggest the name of Gunawardena instead. National Freedom Front leader Wimal Weerawansa recently said that 58 MPs had already pledged support to Gunawardena.

Several UPFA MPs including Gunawardena earlier said that they will sit in the opposition in parliament as independent members.