COLOMBO, April 3: In what is seen as a dramatic and unexpected move, the government-affiliated Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leadership has resigned from their parliamentary seats in order to contest the upcoming eastern provincial council elections under the ticket of the Opposition United National Party (UNP).

SLMC leader Rauf Hakeem and other party members resigned from their parliamentary seats as a sacrifice towards ‘restoring the rights of the Muslims in the East’, SLMC general secretary Hassan Ali said.

“We resigned from our seats to bring back democracy to the east and protect the right of Muslims in the region,” Hassan Ali said. He said the resignation papers had been handed over to parliament on Wednesday afternoon.

The SLMC decision comes amidst a scramble for the chief minister post in the east following a group of pro-government former LTTE members winning the recently held elections for the local councils of Batticaloa. SLMC leaders allege that the government campaign for restoring democracy in the east, which has a large population of Tamils and Muslims, is marred by the presence of weapon carrying paramilitaries eyeing the chief ministerial post.