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Horse trade of MPs; Sirisena calls Range Bandara

President Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday (11) defended his unconstitutional dissolution of parliament, stating that the decision was taken to prevent violent clashes among rival legislators and "horse-trading of MPs". 

However, a telephone conversation between Sirisena and former minister Palitha Range Bandara going viral on social media shows the President inquiring from Range Bandara about the possibility of joining his newly formed government.

The former minister stated that although he had no issues of working with Sirisena, he had very strong reservations about working with Mahinda Rajapaksa, who Sirisena appointed as the Prime Minister last month. 

"It was sad that parliamentarians were being traded for LKR 100 to 500 million,” Sirisena said during his address to the nation yesterday, referring to statements made by some of the parliamentarians that they were offered huge money to switch sides.

In the telephone conversation however, Sirisena invites the former minister to meet him sometime later and discuss further about the possibility joining him in the government. 

The recording of the conversation can be found below.

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