Cabinet is expected to consider the nominee for the post of Secretary to Mahinda Rajapaksa as Leader of Opposition on January 2, despite confusion over the post of Opposition Leader.
The former President’s spokesperson Rohan Welivita told the Daily News yesterday that a Leader of the Opposition needed to send in the name of an SLAS officer to Cabinet to be considered to be appointed as Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition.
“We have done that and we expect a positive decision on it,” he said. If the name is approved by Cabinet, it would effectively mean that the government has recognised Rajapaksa as the new Leader of the Opposition.
He added that they hoped to be able to occupy the Office of the Leader of the Opposition in Marcus Fernando Mawatha, Colombo 7 by the first week of January 2019.
“On December 21, Mahinda Rajapaksa sat at the Constitutional Council meeting in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition with the Prime Minister.So we will be able to settle this matter soon,”Welivita said. TNA Leader R.Sampanthan in the meantime has stated that he was still the Leader of the Opposition and continues to occupy the Office of the Leader of the Opposition in Colombo 7. The Speaker last week deferred his decision on the matter after receiving requests from UNP and TNA Parliamentarians who asked for a Parliament Select Committee to be appointed to look into the matter.
Parliament is to reconvene on January 8.Attempts made to contact the TNA leader and his office yesterday for a comment proved unsuccessful.