• SJB dismisses suspensions by UNP Working Committee 
• Says they have more Committee members and democracy on their side 
• Argues UNP leadership backed away from WC decision
• SJB confident voters will make best decision at polls

By Asiri Fernando

 The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) yesterday said that the United National Party (UNP) can have no say on their nominations for the upcoming Parliamentary Election. 

Addressing the press at SJB head office, General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara downplayed concerns raised about how the recent UNP Working Committee’s decision to suspend 99 members could impact SJB nominations for the upcoming General Election. 

“How can the UNP impact our nominations? There is only a small group left there, only 15 former parliamentarians are with them. The SJB has 80 former parliamentarians in our ranks, 37 Working Committee members stand with the SJB, only 20 are with the UNP, therefore how can they dictate to us? Democracy is on our side,” Madduma Bandara said. 

Addressing the press, SJB candidate and lawyer Ajith P. Perera stated that legal professionals and practitioners await the Supreme Court’s explanations regarding the verdict issued on Tuesday dismissing all petitions on the date of the elections and reconvening the old Parliament. 

He opined that the petitioners wanted the elections to be held in a free and fair manner, which is to hold it without endangering public health. He said the outcome of the verdict will give the Election Commission the time needed to reschedule the election at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer a threat to public health.   

The SJB said they will let voters decide the fate of the small number of UNP members who need to face disciplinary action for trying to breach Working Committee decisions, SJB Deputy Secretary Sujeewa Senasinghe said yesterday. 

The SJB enacted a directive given by the UNP Working Committee, Senasinghe stressed, pointing out that the last decision of the Working Committee was to create the SJB, appoint Sajith Premadasa as its head and Ranjith Madduma Bandara as its General Secretary to face the election as a common front. 

“Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Ravi Karunanayake and Ranil Wickremesinghe have got together and taken a decision against it. We can take disciplinary action against these three gentlemen but we won't, we'll leave that to the voters at the poll. Once they are reduced to two or three seats, those who need to be removed will automatically be removed,” he stated.

There are a number of politicians in the UNP who have lost the faith of the public, including some who have turned politics into a business and those persons will be given a fitting answer by the voters in the coming elections, Senasinghe opined. 

“Elections will come in August or sometime soon afterwards and the voters will decide who needs disciplinary action. If we are deemed unfit, they may vote us out too,” he said, charging that Wickremesinghe and his loyalists were working with the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and followed the Government's agenda to sabotage the Opposition. 

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