The party will abstain from voting when the no-confidence motion against Chief Minister will be brought forward again, WPC’s SLMC group leader Shafiq Rajabdeen said.

If the JVP wants to get rid of Reginal Cooray, they'll have to break away from the Alliance and vote against him   SLMC in WPC

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is exploiting the opportunity to use other parties to get rid of Chief Minister Reginald Cooray, he told BBC Sandeshaya (BBC Sinhala).

“Chief Minister was accused of mismanagement even before the JVP formed the Alliance with the SLFP. Why didn’t they raise the issue then?”

The JVP group in the WPC said they will abstain from voting when the motion will be taken for debate.

The SLMC is working together with the UNP at the national level.

Rajadeen however said they cannot support the UNP in the Western Province as the UNP authorities in Colombo Municipal Council neglected there continuous requests to be appointed to financial committees.

WPC members 104-members Peoples Alliance 36 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 23 United National Party 39 Sri Lanka Muslim Congress 4 Western Province Peoples Front 1 Democratic United Front 1

"If the JVP wants to get rid of Reginal Cooray, they'll have to break away from the Alliance and vote against him," Rajabdeen said.

Governor Alavi Moulana prorogued the WPC for three weeks a day before a no-confidence motion brought by main opposition United National Party (UNP) was to de debated.

The motion is now scheduled to be debated on 17 May.

The Western Provincial Council (WPC) is consisted of 104-members with 59 UPFA councillors (SLFP 36and JVP 23), the United National Party (UNP) 39, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) 4, Western Province Peoples Front (WPPF) 1 and Democratic United Front (DUA) 1.