UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday proposed Sajith Premadasa as the Opposition Leader while putting off final decision on the party leadership. The UNP parliamentary group reached a consensus on the post of the Opposition Leader at Sirikotha.

Earlier, Sajith Premadasa loyalists demanded both positions-Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the party.

A spokesperson for Speaker Karu Jayasuriya told The Island that he had received a letter from UNP General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, MP, yesterday informing him of the unanimous decision to appoint Sajith Premadasa as the Opposition Leader.

Late last month, MP Kariyawasam informed Speaker Jayasuriya of UNP leader Wickremesinghe’s appointment as the Opposition Leader. Having initially complied with Kariyawasam’s request, Speaker Jayasuriya, subsequently, in writing, urged the latter to consult the parliamentary group in view of 57 members demanding that Premadasa be appointed to that post.

The Speaker’s Office said that the parliament would formally accept Sajith Premadasa as the Leader of the Opposition on January 03, 2020. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa prorogued parliament on Tuesday, Dec 03.