A group of Sri Lanka Freedom Party Executive Committee members are now on a fresh mission to propose Leader of the House Nimal Siripala de Silva as the new Opposition Leader.

This move has somewhat shattered the hopes of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was trying to make inroads to the Parliament as the Leader of the Opposition.

Asian Mirror reliably learns that even the “Rajapaksa faction” of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party is strongly divided over the subject of new opposition leader. Some Executive Committee members of the SLFP had already collected signatures to propose Nimal Siripala de Silva as the Leader of the Opposition, while keeping Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom party.

The former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has already stated that he will soon return to power and will continue to engage in active politics. His close allies such as former Minister Wimal Weerawansa told media that they will not allow former President Rajapaksa to “rest at home”.

If Leader of the House Nimal Sirpala de Silva becomes the Leader of the Opposition, he stands a strong chance of becoming the Prime Ministerial Candidate of the opposition at the next Parliamentary Election. That throws former President Rajapaksa’s political future into serious question! In that case, the former President Rajapaksa will have to be satisfied with a mere Parliamentary seat, without prominent portfolios in the house. 

The  present Parliament is likely to be dissolved after April 23 – following the implementation of the 100 day programme.