Harin Fernando and Manusha Nanayakkara have resigned from their respective ministerial portfolios.
Accordingly, Fernando has resigned as the Minister of Tourism, Lands, Sports and Youth Affairs while Nanayakkara stepped down the Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment.
This decision comes hours after the Supreme Court’s ruling issued this morning (09) declaring that the decision taken by the SJB to suspend the party membership of Manusha Nanayakkara and Harin Fernando was lawful.
The court issued this verdict while dismissing a petition filed by the two ministers seeking an order declaring that the SJB’s decision to remove them from the party is unlawful.
Accordingly, as per the Supreme Court verdict, Harin Fernando and Manusha Nanayakkara are disqualified from holding seats in Parliament.
On July 18, 2023, the Working Committee of the SJB decided to expel party members Harin Fernando and Manusha Nanayakkara from the party. In May 2022, the SJB had suspended the party membership of the two parliamentarians after they had accepted ministerial portfolios in the government while the party had vowed to take disciplinary action against them.
