Sixteen parliamentarians from 10 political parties which form the governing alliance plan to sit independently in the House from next week, The Sunday Morning reliably learns.
The decision to sit independently was reached during a 10-party party leaders’ meeting held last Friday (4), a leader of a dissident group told The Sunday Morning.
Accordingly, the group of 16 will sit separately from the Government MPs, but will remain on the Government side of the House.
It is also learnt that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which has been raising a dissenting voice over the last year, will not join this move.
The move comes in the wake of last week’s Cabinet reshuffle, where President Gotabaya Rajapaksa sacked two key Cabinet Ministers – National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader Wimal Weerawansa and Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) Leader Udaya Gammanpila – who had criticised Government policies and called for a change in policy direction to avert a further crisis.