Colombo: Former Sri Lankan prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who stepped down from office three days ago, has been named opposition leader, Parliament Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said.
On Tuesday, Jayasuriya accepted Rajapaksa’s nomination by his party — the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), which is the second-largest party with 93 seats in the 225-seat legislative body.
The UPFA was able to claim the opposition leader position after a part of their members decided to withdraw from a coalition government, making the UPFA the largest opposition party.
The position was previously held by minority Tamil party leader R Sampanthan, which had 16 seats in parliament.
Rajapaksa returned to parliament in 2015 as an ordinary member of parliament, an office he had held for decades before becoming president for two consecutive terms from 2005 until 2015.
On October 26, President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and gave the post to Rajapaksa, but he was forced on Saturday to step down after his party failed to prove a minimum of 113 seats in parliament.
Wickremesinghe was sworn in again as prime minister on Sunday while his cabinet of ministers are due to be appointed shortly. — dpa
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
