Sri Lankans unhappy with infight in govt: Minister

The internal squabbling between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has left the Sri Lankan public unhappy and dissatisfied, a minister in the ruling coalition government said on Saturday.

Addressing a gathering at Pannipitiya in a Colombo suburb, Minister of National Integration, Reconciliation and Official Languages Mano Ganesan also asked the two leaders to "sort out" their issues to ensure the free democratic environment created by this 'yahapalana' (good governance) government.

Sirisena, according to the media, had reportedly told former President Mahinda Rajapaksa that it was difficult to work with Wickremesinghe as prime minister.

In April, Wickremesinghe had successfully defeated a joint move by Sirisena and Rajapaksa to oust him. The premier was able to record a resounding victory in the no trust motion with the support of Tamil and Muslim minority parties.

"The people of the country are a bit disappointed and the reason for their unhappiness is the conflict of opinions and democratic disagreements between the President and the Prime Minister in the government," he said.

"I would like to tell my bosses that they need to sort out their internal issues. We formed the yahapalana (good governance) government and have created a free democratic environment in the country like never before. But the clashes between the president and the prime minister are not good," Ganesan said.

Wickremesinghe was Sirisena's main sponsor in the 2015 presidential election. Sirisena got elected with the support from the Wickremesinghe-led United National Party (UNP), Ganesan-led Tamil-minority party and others and the Muslims party.

Ganesan said that if the government is to continue longer the United National Party (UNP) must name a Prime Minister and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) must name its Presidential candidate.