The independent group of Parliamentarians comprising 41 members has decided to boycott further discussion with the President to set up an interim administration. The move was following SLFP MP Shantha Bandara was appointed by the President as a State Minister of the government. The dissidents said that the President had virtually engineered defection from their ranks after they decided to remain as an independent group in Parliament. The SLFP, in another political move, removed Shantha Bandara from all posts he held in the SLFP, and a disciplinary inquiry is underway.