• One cannot become the Leader of Opposition with the support of 60 MPs from the govt. benches

By Yohan Perera   

Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s appointment to Parliament as a National List MP is a deal which the UNP had got into to help government to divide the Opposition, SJB MPs Manusha Nanayakkara and S. M. Marikar said. 

“Publicity given to the story about Mr. Wickremesinghe’s appointment to Parliament is aimed at dividing the Opposition. Also one must remember that if 60 MPs are going back, Mr. Wickremesinghe has to attract a group of government MPs as well. One cannot become the Leader of Opposition with the support of 60 MPs from the government benches as the Opposition Leader’s post is given to the leader of a party which has the most number of seats in the Opposition,” he said.