Leader of the House of Sri Lanka parliament resigns

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 August 2005, 02:56 GMT]
The General Secretary of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Senior Minister Mr. Maithiripala Sirisena resigned from his position as Leader of the House Wednesday night, Sri Lanka Government sources said. Mr.Maithiripala Sirisena, an SLFP stalwart and a parliamentarian from the Eastern Polannaruwa district, is one of the confidants of SL President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge.

(Photo: Daily News)

In his reason for the resignation Mr. Sirisena has stated that he was overloaded with responsibilities.

However, Ms. Kumaratunge was reluctunt to accept the resignation of Sirisena and urged him to re-consider his decision, sources said.

Mr Sirisena is the second SLFP key member to render his resignation in the last two months.

Earlier, in June, Mr. Mangala Samaraweera, another senior SLFP member, gave up his Media Ministry portfolio, but continued to remain as Minister of Ports and Aviation following a dispute between the ruling SLFP and its former coalition partner JVP over the P-TOMS.