UNP carrying out Government’s agenda, claims Bakeer Markar

Monday, 1 June 2020 00:28 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The United National Party (UNP) is today being run by a small group who are aiming to carry out the Government’s agenda, charged veteran politician and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) member Imthiaz Bakeer Markar.

Imthiaz Bakeer Markar

Bakeer Markar was among the 99 members suspended by the UNP last week after a Working Committee meeting unilaterally endorsed a decision of the Party Leader and former Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, to suspend the membership of members who had allegedly obtained nominations for upcoming elections from another party.

Speaking at press conference last weekend, Bakeer Markar opined that the current struggle within the United National Party (UNP) is a long-standing one and the journey the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) is on is legal and has the support of a majority of UNP supporters.

“We can’t look at this in isolation, we need to look at this decision in the context of the bigger picture, the background, these tactics have been employed by some in the UNP for some time, it involves a long-standing issue,” Bakeer Markar said, pointing out that he had been suspended by the Working Committee thrice before.

“These tactics of planting stories in the media has been used before, it is being employed by a small group within the party, hundreds of party members and leaders have left the Party due to action such as this in the past,” he stated, arguing that the Party had long suppressed upcoming community leaders and replaced them with a hand-picked group of individuals who had no grassroots support.

“The fact of the matter is that every leader of the United National Party has been the country’s political leadership bar Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe,” Bakeer Markar explained, charging that the UNP under Wickremesinghe’s leadership moved away from the social-democratic principles which the party had long championed.

“What happened to the UNP? Young leadership from grassroots level was not allowed to come up the ranks, a few handpicked friends and children from elite families were put in place instead. Ordinary UNP supporters were not given the opportunity to rise,” Bakeer Markar stressed.

Commenting on the UNP Working Committee decision to suspend the members who had sought nominations with the SJB, Bakeer Markar said that decision was illegal, owing to the fact that the SJB was formed on a directive of the Working Committee, and as such all UNP members who support the SJB and the candidacy of Sajith Premadasa should not fear any repercussion from the party.

“This decision is a joke. We are standing on solid ground, we (SJB) were formed on a Working Committee decision. We need to free the UNP from the control of a small group who are bent on doing the Government’s bidding. A majority of the Working Committee are with us, the heart and grassroots support of the UNP is with the SJB,” he claimed.

Bakeer Markar said that the decision taken by the UNP was intended to scare the support base of the SJB ahead of the election. He denied the charge that the SJB was trying destroy the UNP as a party.

“A party is not a building, it is not Sirikotha, it is not a symbol; it is principles of social democratic journey. The party leadership was never decided in the homes of the elite, it was decided by the people,” he added, opining that once the election was over, the internal issues of the UNP will be resolved.