Dinesh Gunawardene appointed government chief whip

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 June 2008, 20:03 GMT]
Parliamentarian Dinesh Gunawardene has been appointed as the government chief whip at a meeting held Monday and attended by leaders of constituent political parties of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), media sources said. His name was proposed by Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse for the post that fell vacant with the murder Jeyaraj Fernandopulle.

Jeyaraj Fernandopulle was killed in a bomb explosion caused by suicide bomber on April 6 this year. At that time he was holding a minister post in the UPFA government in addition to the post of government chief whip.

Dinesh Gunawardene is a Minister in the present government and the leader of the Mahajana Exsath Peramuna (MEP).

Late S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike formed the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) after he resigned from the UNP government led by Dudley Senanayake. Later he formed an alliance with the Viplavakara Lanka Sama Samaja Party (VLSSP) led by Phillip Gunawardene to contest 1956 general election. The alliance was named Mahajana Exsath Peramuna (MEP). When Phillip Gunawardene quit the alliance, he named his new party as MEP. Dinesh Gunawardene is the leader of the MEP since his father's death.