Sri Lankan Parliament on Tuesday debated abolition of Executive Presidency as the tug of war between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe continued. <br />''<br />''<br />''The United National Party (UNP) led by Mr. Wickremsinghe told Parliament that they will support moves to slash the powers of the President. <br />''<br />''<br />''UNP MP and former minister Malik Samarawickrema said that the recent events showed why the Executive Presidency must be abolished. <br />''<br />''<br />''He called on Parliament to support the 20th amendment presented by the People's freedom party to abolish the Executive Presidency. <br />''<br />''<br />''The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) said they will support the 20th amendment to the constitution. <br />''<br />''<br />''The amendment was introduced in parliament a few months back but it had not mustered support from UNP and other parties but with changed circumstances, UNP has decided to support it. <br />''<br />''<br />''Meanwhile, some UNP MPs have challenged the appointment of the former president and MP Mahinda Rajapaksa as the opposition leader in Parliament. <br />''<br />''<br />''Speaker agreed to nominate Mr. Rajapaksa replacing TNA leader R Sampanthan because his alliance became the largest in opposition. <br />''<br />''<br />''However, UNP MP Lakshman Kiriella and TNA MP M A Sumanthiran raised legal points on Rajapaksa's eligibility to continue as an MP since he resigned from UPFA, the party that he was elected from and became a member of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). <br />''<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">The matter has been referred to select committee in parliament. In another development, three MPs from Rajapaksa side have joined the UNP -led government side in Parliament.</span>