JO launches another bid for Opposition Leader

Colombo (News1st) : The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the Joint Opposition in Parliament seem to be preparing for another swing at the post of Opposition Leader. Convening a media briefing in Colombo on Monday (July 16th), Chairman of the SLPP Prof. G.L. Peiris once again stated that the Speaker of Parliament should look into the request made by a majority of the opposition. Peiris noted that 70 of the 92 MPs in the Opposition are members of the Joint Opposition and that they do not accept R. Sampanthan as the leader of the Opposition. According to G.L. Peiris, these MPs believe that Sampanthan is the only opposition leader in the world that does not criticize the Government on crucial legislation. The SLPP chairman went onto elaborate that for 3 years Sampanthan and the TNA have approved the budget without any amendments and even took steps to protect Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe when faced with a no-confidence motion.