A group of newly elected Members of Parliament representing the National People’s Power (NPP) reportedly held a secret meeting last week, according to political sources.
Sources said that around 15 MPs elected from several districts at the last General Election participated in the meeting.
It is also learnt that CCTV footage exists showing the MPs arriving at and leaving the premises where the meeting was held.
The Government has not yet indicated whether the meeting was convened due to dissatisfaction among the MPs regarding Government affairs or to discuss another matter.
However, sources said that the issue has attracted the attention of both the Government leadership and opposition parties.
Meanwhile, the matter was reportedly discussed at a joint opposition meeting held on Wednesday under the patronage of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Opposition party leaders are said to have claimed that the Government is attempting to expedite legislation to abolish the parliamentary seat of any MP who changes political parties, with the aim of preventing defections from both the National People’s Power and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB).
It is further reported that some party leaders who attended the joint opposition meeting expressed the view that the SJB should introduce legislation to prevent party defections.
