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Four ministers resign from Sri Lanka government

Xinhua, May 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

Four ministers resigned from Sri Lanka's coalition government on Thursday, making it the first large defection since a united government was formed by President Maithripala Sirisena in March.

The minister's are members of the opposition Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) who merged with the ruling United National Party (UNP) in order to strengthen the political environment in the country.

In a media briefing held in the capital Colombo, the ministers said that they were disappointed with the coalition government and stated that they had informed President Sirisena of their resignation. "Although it is a united government with the merging of the SLFP and UNP, it is the UNP who is running the government. We did not agree to a united government to support the UNP," Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena who was sworn in as the minister of Parliamentary Affairs said.

The ministers who tendered their resignations are State Minister of Housing and Samurdhi Dilan Perera, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, State Minister of Public Administration and Democratic Governance C. B. Ratnayake and State Minister of Environment Pavithra Wanniarachchi.

President Sirisena announced in March that he will be forming a national government which included 26 opposition lawmakers in a bid to push through reforms in the country. The move came ahead of a parliamentary vote which is expected to be held in July.

The move would enable better cooperation between the ruling party and the main opposition in parliament until the parliamentary elections are held, Sirisena had stated. Endi