Maithri says next leader could come from SLFP

Saturday, 21 March 2015 00:55 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

President Maithripala Sirisena worships the late SLFP founder S.W.R.D Bandaranaike By Jayashika Padmasiri President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday said that the next leader of the country could come from the SLFP. He made this statement after opening the office of the SLFP Youth Front at the SLFP head office in Colombo yesterday. Addressing the gathering, President Sirisena said that he had worked as the SLFP Youth Front Chairman during a very turbulent period in the country. “When I worked as the SLFP Youth Chairman there were instances where we didn’t even have a place to sleep after work, therefore sometimes I used to lay newspapers on a table in the office and sleep during the night. However, many steps have been taken to develop the SLFP Youth Wing at present and perhaps the next leader of the nation will emerge from the current crop of SLFP youth leaders,” Sirisena said.

From left: Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva, President Maithripala Sirisena and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga Speaking further about the disputes that can arise in political parties, Sirisena revealed that SLFP founder S.W.R.D Bandaranaike was murdered by SLFP Cabinet members and a SLFP monk while saying that the party declined a lot during that time because of politics. Meanwhile, Parliamentarian Eric Prasanna Weerawardena, while speaking at the event, said that although the SLFP was not able to make Maithripala Sirisena the President, all its members hoped that President Sirisena would offer leadership to the SLFP now and take them towards victory. “Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and current President Maithripala Sirisena are like the mother and father of our party. Therefore as children it is difficult for us to go forward if the mother and the father are not on good terms with each other. So currently we are under a lot of pressure and this is a very complicated situation. Nevertheless, I ask everybody to join hands with us to form a SLFP Government,” Weerawardena said.

President Maithripala Sirisena ceremonially opens the office of the SLFP Youth Front SLFP Youth Front Leader Shantha Bandara told the audience that within the next couple of weeks the SLFP Youth Wing would go to each division in the country and take steps to set up youth committees at the village level. “Our intention is not to create a youth front of a particular group of chosen people but to create the SLFP Youth Front. We invited everybody to this occasion including former Sri Lankan presidents. We have created a plan to develop the SLFP youth wing in areas concerning management and finances, education and research, information and media, youth affairs and youth professionals,” Bandara said. Amongst the other people who participated at the event were Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva, SLFP Parliamentarians Rajitha Senaratne, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Susil Premajayanth, Mahinda Amaraweera, Piyasena Gamage, Thilanga Sumathipala and Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Mahinda promises not to divide SLFP

SLFP National Organiser Janaka Bandara Tennakoon recently told the media that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had assured senior SLFP members that he would not take any action that would create a rift within the party. Apart from Tennakoon, SLFP General Secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayanth, W.D.J. Seneviratne, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Lasantha Alagiyawanna and Mahinda Amaraweera attended the meeting with the former President. “We decided to meet the President as we foresaw a possible threat. We wanted to avert the possibility of any division. However, when we went to meet him, the former President welcomed us warmly and listened to our concerns. In response, he said that he would never leave the party and would not take any action that would cause a division in the party,” Tennakoon said. It was also reported that this group of SLFP MPs during the meeting had asked the former President about his future expectations in terms of the forthcoming parliamentary election where Rajapaksa had said he would let the party know about his expectations in the future.