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By Nuwan Senarathna
Tightening its hold on members the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) yesterday said their members cannot attend the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Convention on 11 August where their presidential candidate is expected to be announced without prior approval and backed the selection of a presidential candidate that does not hail from a single party insisting they are holding out for a “national candidate”.
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SLFP General Secretary
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Speaking to media at the SLFP head office, General Secretary Parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekara said the party will take tough action against any member participating at rallies and events of other political parties without prior approval.
However, SLFP members have earlier been part of Joint Opposition events that have backed Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa who is the de facto leader of the SLPP and will be picking the presidential candidate. The SLFP and the SLPP have also been in talks for weeks to form a coalition to contest the upcoming Presidential Elections together.
“There were incidents in the past where some SLFP Local Government members attended some of the events that were organised by other parties. But I must say as a party we cannot allow such actions now. Therefore we have decided to take disciplinary steps against anyone attending political events of another party without prior approval,” Jayasekara said.
He noted the SLFP had not received any invitation from the SLPP to participate in its maiden convention and as such no decision has yet been made. The SLFP Central Committee last week called for President Maithripala Sirisena to directly hold talks with Rajapaksa on forming a coalition and Jayasekara said that the SLFP is against the SLPP announcing a presidential candidate before the coalition forming process is finalised.
“Even if I get an invitation that does not necessarily mean I will accept it. We all have to work as a party. Therefore when we are holding a position within the parry we cannot take individual decisions based on our personnel preferences,” he added.
Jayasekara pointed out that to bridge the gap between the SLFP and the SLPP both President Sirisena and Rajapaksa should hold broader discussions to build a common platform so both parties can work towards the same goal.
“A discussion between the President and the Opposition Leader is crucial at this moment to form a coalition between the SLFP and the SLPP. We hope both the President and the Opposition Leader will hold a discussion soon.”
Jayasekara said the SLFP would support a national candidate who can lead the county with a vision to bring all political parties and communities together. He stressed that a national candidate should be someone who loves the country but is not limited to one political party.
“The national candidate should be able to re-establish national security, protect territorial integrity, protect public property and have a broader vision to develop the economy. We will not support a candidate who backs privatisation and imports waste to make money.”
He noted several agenda-driven groups were attempting to prevent the SLFP effort to unite all parties for a national presidential candidate that has the capacity to get the support of all communities.
Jayasekara also defended the SLFP pushing for the Provincial Council Elections to be held before the presidential polls arguing that some councils had been defunct for over a year and therefore required new appointees as soon as possible.
“The way things are now there will have to be Presidential Elections and after that General Elections. Provincial Council Elections will only happen after that, which means it could be the second half of 2020 by the time Provincial Council Elections are held. This is very dangerous as many services are given to the people by the councils and this is why we feel this election should be held as soon as possible,” he said.
