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Sri Lanka's UPFA members oppose Tamil party's attempt to be main opposition

Xinhua, September 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

Sri Lankan opposition United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) parliamentarians on Wednesday expressed concerns over Tamil political party's attempt to become the main opposition in parliament.

UPFA, defeated by the ruling United National Party (UNP) in a parliamentary election last month, won 95 seats, but later split up after its largest coalition partner, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), decided to join UNP to form a united government.

Fourteen UPFA members, including former President Mahinda Rajapakse, now sit in the opposition benches, but remain beaten by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) who came in third by winning 16 seats in the election.

The TNA last week said their parliamentary group leader must be recognized as the leader of the opposition in accordance with parliamentary practice and convention as they have emerged as the largest political party in the opposition.

However, UPFA member Udaya Gammanpila said UPFA members who decided to sit as opposition parliamentarians had already submitted a name from its party for the opposition leader's post to President Maithripala Sirisena and expected an answer soon. Endi