Three more opposition MPs to join Sri Lanka government - report

Sri Lanka's Sinhala daily Divaina newspaper reported today that three more opposition parliamentarians are to join the government soon.


These MPs are now having discussions with the ruling party, the newspaper said.
The ruling party is just five votes shy of a two-third majority to bring constitutional reforms after two opposition MPs joined the government last week.
P. Digambaram and Prabha Ganeshan crossed over to the government side. Both contested and won the general election in April this year under the major opposition United National Party (UNP) ticket.
With this, the government now has 146 of the 225 seats and it will be raised to 149 with expected defections. The government needs 150 MPs for a two-third majority.
Kandy District UNP parliamentarian Abdul Cader has shown his support to the government by voting for the emergency regulations. The UNP suspended Cader from the party's Working Committee last month for voting with the government.