Sept 01, Colombo: Quoting an unnamed senior MP of United National Party (UNP) of Sri Lanka, the state owned Sinhala language daily reported in its lead story today that the campaign of a section of the UNP MPs to oust their leader Ranil Wickremasinghe would be futile.

The MP stated that despite the rebel MPs were trying to oust Wickremasinghe on the basis he lost 18 consecutive elections, almost all the electoral organizers had to take the responsibility of the defeat since they failed to gain enough votes from their bases to defeat the government.

Move to oust the opposition leader gained momentum after the party’s loss at the recent provincial polls. The rebellious MP the group comprising Lakshman Seneviratne, Johnston Fernando, Jayalath Jayawardena, Thalatha Athukorale and Indika Bandara suggest that Wickremasinghe should hold a position similar to that of India’s Congress Leader Sonia Gandhi.