Fissure deepens within SLFP

Fissure deepens in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party which is visible clearly, as the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka was dissolved and arrangements for the General Elections begin with a limping start.

At present, the Secretary General of the SLFP and the Secretary of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance- both are from the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa camp and those loyal to President Maithripala Srisena had expressed concern about the position and loyalty of those two officials.

A few political parties which wanted to continue in the UPFA and aligned with President Maithripala Srisena – who is the President of the SLFP as well as the UPFA, met the President and had expressed their concern over having a UPFA Secretary who is with the Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

When Asian Tribune contacted Minister S.B.Dissanayake, a strong loyalist of President Maithripala Srisena, he told that there is no need for political parties which support the President be worried of. He said it will just take five minutes only, in case if any wrong or suspicious moves were detected of those office-bearers.

He also said that President Maithripala Srisena has already appointed a five-member committee headed by him to formulate strategy for the SLFP election campaign.

Apart from S.B Dissanayake, the five-member committee comprises of Rajitha Senaratne, Mahinda Amaraweera, Lasantha Alagiyawanna and Thilanga Sumathipala. It was appointed during a special meeting held just after the dissolution of the parliament.

Meanwhile it was reported that Rajapaksa Faction of the SLFP will announce their Prime Ministerial Candidate on July 01.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of the ruling United National Party has vowed to defeat former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, if he became the Prime Minister candidate of the UPFA or any other political front.

“Those who were around the Rajapaksas under the previous regime are now trying to grab power. We should defeat this attempt. This time, Mahinda Rajapaksa will certainly be defeated. Even Prabhakaran does not exist to help Rajapaksa, like he did in the past,” Wickremesinghe said, addressing a meeting in Nawalapitiya.

Ranil Wickrema Singhe cautioned, “They are trying to bring back the white van culture. They are trying to reverse the people’s revolution which brought Maithripala Sirisena to power on January 8.” (Asian Tribune)