Ranil to be sworn in as an MP on Wednesday if Elections Commission gives the nod

UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to be sworn in as a Member of Parliament on Wednesday (23) if the intimation by the Elections Commission is received accepting his nomination to fill the party’s long-delayed, solitary National List seat.

UNP sources said that if the Speaker announces the Elections Commission’s acceptance of Wickremesinghe as the party’s National List MP, as requested by the UNP General Secretary, on Tuesday, he will attend Parliament for the swearing in the following day.

Wickremesinghe is expected to be given a seat in the front row as a party leader but the seating arrangements have still not been finalized, the sources said.

Whether it means moving out a SJB member to another row to accommodate the UNP leader remains to be seen, they said.

As in the case of other party leaders, Wickremesinghe will have to occupy a front row seat, the sources said.

In all probability, he will be accommodated next to National People’s Power leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake with Vijitha Herath moved to another row, the sources added.

“We are in the process of finalizing the arrangement”, they said.

(Suresh Perera)