Pivithuru Hela Urumaya General Secretary Udaya Gammanpila said that Speaker Karu Jayasuriya was not wrong in electing TNA leader R. Sampanthan as the Opposition Leader.

Speaking to Asian Mirror, he said that the UPFA General Secretary Prof. Vishwa Warnapala, had sent a letter to the Speaker informing him that the UPFA does not wish to make a request for the Opposition Leader position.

Gammanpila said that the Speaker showed the letter to the MPs who had protested at the decision, informing them that he had acted upon the letter.

He added that the Speaker should have told the Parliament that he had received such a letter.

Gammanpila said that the letter had been sent without informing the MPs who had handed over a letter to President Sirisena, asking him to name Kumara Welgama as the Opposition Leader. It is those who sent the letter to the Speaker that should be blamed for what happened, Gammanpila insisted.

Fifty five UPFA MPs signed a letter requesting the naming of Welgama as the Opposition Leader. It was handed over to the President on September 1.