President confident of continuing consensual govt until 2020

President Maithripala Sirisena today expressed confidence that the consensual government between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the United National Party will continue uninterrupted until 2020.

President Sirisena addressing heads of media institutions and editors said that the SLFP was also committed towards maintaining the consensual government despite calls by a section of his own members and UNP members that they should have their own governments.

‘The reality is that the UNP or the SLFP cannot form its own government going by the parliamentary composition and they will need the support of some other members to form a joint governemnt’, he said.

‘In any case that is an issue of the Parliament and I will not have a problem to continue as the President. I am committed to continue this government’, he added.

He said, however the Party Central Committee which gave approval to form a consensual government in 2015 will meet again and decide about the continuity of this form of government before December.