Sri Lanka Opposition Leader nominates TNA MP to Parliament Council and TNA rejects nomination

Sri Lanka's main opposition and United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremasinghe today nominated Tamil national Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian M.A Sumanthiran as his nominee to the Parliamentary Council established under the 18th Amendment.
Wickremasinghe announced his nomination following a request by Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa from the Opposition Leader and the Prime Minister to nominate their representatives to the Parliamentary Council.
However, Wickremasinghe told the media that he would not participate in the Parliamentary Council.
Meanwhile, the TNA today turned down the nomination of its MP Sumanthiran as Wickremasinghe's nominee to the Parliamentary Council.
TNA MP Suresh Premachandran told the media that while Sumanthiran has already rejected the proposal, the TNA would not accept any nominations to the Parliamentary Council, as the party was opposed to the 18th Amendment.
"The TNA is opposed to the 18th Amendment and does not want to play any part in its implementation. The TNA does not want to have any role in the Parliamentary Council, which is a powerless body," he said.
The 18th Amendment to the Constitution specifies the appointment of the five-member Parliamentary Council comprising the Speaker, Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, and two nominee MPs from the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader, in place of the Constitutional Council specified by the 17th Amendment.