The Parliamentary Group of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) will discuss the motion against the President and the current political crisis in Sri Lanka when it convenes at the Office of the Opposition Leader today.
General Secretary of the SJB Ranjith Madduma Bandara told the media today that the party will propose the name of Imtiaz Bakeer Markar for the post of Deputy Speaker in Parliament, which has been left vacant due to the current political crisis.
MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara also said the SJB will not extend any support to newly appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, stating that the latter does not hold a 113-seat majority in Parliament as claimed before.
He said the new Prime Minister is solely dependent on the support of the Rajapaksas and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MPs.
MP Madduma Bandara further charged that the President had appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister with the intention of remaining in office.
He reiterated that no SJB MP will take up portfolios in a government headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Meanwhile, holding a special media briefing today, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya responded to the appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
SJB MP Rajitha Senaratne said the SJB was formed after defecting from the United National Party (UNP), as the party members could not work with UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.
He said Wickremesinghe had to enter Parliament through a single National List seat after he lost drastically in the Parliamentary Elections held in 2020.
Appointing such a person who had lost the confidence of the people as the Prime Minister of the nation and a government that is led under his leadership will become a joke in front of the entire world, MP Senaratne pointed out.
The SJB MP warned that no foreign country or overseas financial institution will provide necessary assistance to Sri Lanka until a stable government is established and political stability is restored in the nation. (NewsWire)