Sri Lankan leader's party downplays defection

The largest party in Sri Lanka's ruling coalition is downplaying the defection of its No. 2 that pits him against the country's president in January's election.
Sri Lanka Freedom Party official and Cabinet minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said today that the party's base is not shaken by the defection of Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena and that the split will not diminish President Mahinda Rajapaksa's chances to be elected for a third term.
Sirisena, general secretary of the Freedom Party, left the government yesterday with three other ministers and a lawmaker to be the presidential candidate of a combined opposition in the January 8 election.

He accused Rajapaksa of taking the country toward autocracy.
The split is the biggest ever challenge to Rajapaksa since he was first elected in 2005.