He compared it to the appointment of four owls for four parrots.

Ekanayake has told BBC Sandeshaya that they would not agree to a condition not to attend rallies to demand Mahinda Rajapaksa’s nomination as the prime ministerial candidate, even if their removal was reversed.

Legal action

He went on to say that according to what general secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and national organizer Susil Premajayantha said in Kandy, the chairman of the party is going to reverse the decision.

Therefore, no necessity arises to take legal action against their removal, he said.

Ekanayake maintained that they had not violated the party discipline, but wanted to unite the party.

He noted that not only the four sacked members, but also nearly 27 MPs in all, attended the last rally in Ratnapura.