R Sampanthan appointed Opposition Leader
Tamil National Alliance Parliamentary Group Leader R. Sampanthan has been appointed as the Opposition Leader of the 8th Parliament a short while ago.
Sampanthan was recognized by Speaker Karu jayasuriya as there was no request made by the UPFA for the position.
Incidentally this is the second occasion on which the position of Opposition Leader in the current parliament was awarded to a party other than the UNP or SLFP. The first occasion was in 1978 when A. Amirthalingam of Tamil United Liberation Front held the position.