Parliament entry roads closed off as security tightened

The security around the Parliament complex has been tightened and all the entry roads leading to it have been closed off with roadblocks, according to Ada Derana reporter.

Meanwhile, the Parliament is scheduled to convene tomorrow (19) at 10.00 a.m. chaired by the Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

Due to the current political crisis in the country, the calling of nominations to appoint a successor president is scheduled to be held tomorrow.

The voting related to this will be held as a secret ballot in the Parliament the next day (20).

It has already been announced that five members, including Acting President Ranil Wickramasinghe and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, will contest the election to appoint the successor president.

Accordingly, tomorrow, their nominations will be handed over to the General Secretary of the Parliament and then he will announce it before the Parliament.

The candidate who gets more than 50 percent of the votes of the Members of Parliament who will vote on the day of the polling will be elected as the new president.

Each political party in the parliament has already announced the candidate they will support while the SLFP has said it will abstain from voting.

It is said that the votes of the members of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), which controls the majority power in the Parliament, is a strong factor in electing the new president.

SLPP has 145 parliamentary seats in the current parliament and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has 54 parliamentary seats.

Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) has 10 seats, National People’s Power (NPP) has 3 seats, Eelam People’s Party and Akila Ilankei Tamil Congress have 2 seats each.

Apart from this, Tamil Makkal Vidudalep Pulikal (TMVP), Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Muslim National Alliance, Tamil Makkal Thesia Kuttani, Ahila Ilangei Mahajana Congress, National Congress, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, United National Party and Ape Janabala Pakshaya have one seat each.