The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) today rejected reports that its leader and other seniors are being pressured by the supreme council of the party to resign from government portfolios and that the party is on the verge of a split.

Certain media reports had claimed that SLMC leader Rauf Hakeem has been urged by the supreme council to resign from his post of Justice Minister.

Rubbishing the reports, General Secretary of the SLMC Hasan Ali stated that a supreme council meeting has not even been held yet, since election nominations.

“There is no truth to these reports. Neither Rauf Hakeem nor any other party member will resign from their government posts and contest the Eastern Province election,” he told Ada Derana.

Sri Lanka’s major Muslim party Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) sources say that the party leader Rauf Hakeem is urged by the party supreme committee to resign from the post of Minister of Justice.

He, however, said that SLMC chairman Basheer Segu Dawood’s resignationfrom the Deputy Ministerial post was due to personal reasons and that it will not cause the party to split.

Former Deputy Minister of Co-operatives and Internal Trade Dawood who tendered his resignation to the President on Thursday (Aug 23) had citing the need to focus on SLMC propaganda work pertaining to the upcoming Provincial Councils elections.

Reports claimed that the party’s stance on the upcoming Eastern Provincial Council election had sparked a rift within the SLMC while its decision to contest separately was made the day before nominations concluded on July 19.

It was also reported that the supreme council had criticized the party leadership for contesting against the government at the Eastern Provincial Council election while being a constituent party of the ruling UPFA and bearing a cabinet portfolios.