SLFP calls on deserted members to rejoin

• SLFP seniors pledge never to leave party 
• Say the decision to form national government was a need of the time 

By Nuwan Senarathna  

Pledging to make the party stronger, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) leadership yesterday called on their supporters who abandoned the party to re-join. 

“We pledge that we will not abandon our party no matter what may happen. Therefore we would like to invite all SLFP supporters to join with us to develop our nation,” SLFP vice president MP Mahinda Amaraweera said at the special party convention held in Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium. Party National organiser Duminda Dissanayake, echoing Amaraweera’s sentiments, called on the membership to put aside differences to make the party stronger noting that SLFP had to face a number of challenges in the last few years.  

“Some members even threw stones at SLFP headquarters and some hooted, but these reactions were temporary. Sometimes children get upset with their parents, but they eventually settle down. Therefore we call on all members who abandoned us, time has come to forget all that and work as one.” Dissanayake insisted that SLFP was not a political party limited to one family, but one that belongs to people of Sri Lanka. 

He charged that certain forces had been trying to wipe out SLFP throughout its history using various methods which were unable to take away the glory of the party. Defending the decision to form a national government, SLFP senior vice president Nimal Siripala De Silva said that it was a decision taken based on the political situation at the time. 

“President Maithripala Sirisena was the one who committed to clean the mess created by the United National Party (UNP),” he added.

Noting that despite criticism there were positive outcomes of national Government, he said that SLFP had prevented UNP from taking harmful decisions to the country. “It was SLFP who lead to negotiation process with China over Port City and expose the Central Bank bond scam.”

He claimed that he was part of the committee which decided to call on the Presidential commission to investigate the Central Bank bond scam. Siripala noted that SLFP had the opportunity to enjoy the internal democracy of the party with the leadership of President Maithripala Sirisena. “We got the chance to work on a democratic environment inside the party which we had never experienced before,” he said.