UNP National List MP A.R.A. Hafeez resigned as a Member of Parliament with effect from today (19), Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake said.

Hafeez is the brother of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Minister Rauff Hakeem.

He was appointed as a UNP national list MP following the 2015 parliamentary election.

Soon after the August elections, there were speculation that Hafeez would resign to give his place to a different SLMC member. However, he did not resign at that time.

It was believed that Hafeez was appointed so that he would resign at any moment, as per the request of the party leadership.