President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has requested Ranjith Siyambalapitiya not to resign from the post of Deputy Speaker to protect parliamentary democracy.
With the decision of the 14 members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party to become independent, Siyambalapitiya also took action to become independent from the post of Deputy Speaker.
However, the President has stated that he will reject the resignation on the grounds that it is an independent post and will continue to function in Parliament.
However, the SLFP is scheduled to raise awareness in this regard today.