The new opposition

Athulathmudali, Dissanayake and the other dissidents who had declared themselves were expelled from the UNP and lost their seats in parliament. The expulsion was challenged in the Supreme Court which ruled it valid in that the rebels had clearly violated party norms. Meanwhile Premadasa made great play of the fact that almost all those who had followed Athulathmudali and Dissanayake had appalling reputations. In fact there were enough unsavoury specimens on the other side for Premadasa to mock the rebels' claim that they had wanted to clean up the party.

With almost all who had signed their motion falling in line behind Premadasa, it was a daunting task that awaited Athulathmudali and Dissanayake as they set about establishing a new party. They called this the Democratic United National Front, and claimed it was the true heir to the UNP which Premadasa had perverted. They had indicated earlier that Jayawardene supported them and, though disappointed that during the crisis he had declared himself a loyal party man, they still kept on good terms with him. They were harsh however in their criticisms of Wickremesinghe, who they had initially hoped would join them. Wickremesinghe was the other prominent representative, apart from Athulathmudali and Dissanayake, of the elite of Colombo, which might have been much more supportive of the new party had Wickremesinghe too joined it. Since however he stayed with Premadasa, the upper classes could, despite their personal distaste for Premadasa, happily stay loyal to the UNP, to the chagrin of the rebels.