Colombo, April 5 : Pressure further mounted on Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after MP Ranjith Siyambalapitiya resigned as Deputy Speaker of Parliament, along with more than 40 MPs who left the coalition government, BBC reported on Tuesday. Siyambalapitiya said that he decided to resigns as the SLFP decided to sit independently in Parliament. While the MPs from arties allied to Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led coalition said that they would now independently represent themselves. President Rajapaksa and his brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa have so far refused to resign despite the president’s cabinet having resigned already. Instead, the president called upon the opposition parties to help him form a national government and accept cabinet portfolios. However, they have all refused and have reiterated their demand that he step down. In the past few days, widespread demonstrations have been held across the country calling for the president’s resignation.