Angajan Ramanathan, President Maithripala Sirisena's initial nominee for the post of Deputy Speaker, has blamed TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran for preventing him from becoming the Deputy Speaker. 

"According to Hon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, TNA objected to a Tamil being appointed as Dy. Speaker. I thank the Hon. Leader of the Opposition and Hon. MA Sumanthiran for working tirelessly to prevent a fellow Tamil from becoming the Deputy Speaker of the 15th," Ramanathan said, in a Tweet. 

When contacted by Asian Mirror, however, a TNA spokesman said they had nothing against a Tamil becoming the Deputy Speaker. 

"But, we certainly had a problem with Ramanathan's conduct in Jaffna. The opposition was directed at him, not at his ethnicity," he explained. 

However, President Sirisena's second nominee for the post, Dr. Sudharshini Fernandopulle, suffered a humiliating defeat yesterday as the UNP candidate secured the post with an overwhelming majority