Sirisena helped UNP to come back to power

Lakshman Kiriella, a longstanding SLFP veteran (the UNP is now run by crossovers e.g. Mangala Samaraweera (SLFP), Ravi Karunanayake (a DUNF MP), Lakshman Kiriella (SLFP), Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe (SLFP), now a leading figure in the UNP in the Daily FT of yesterday says Sirisena knows the UNP brought him into power and therefore Sirisena is very grateful to the UNP. How ridiculous is this?

This is the very arrogance and loose talk of the UNP that is leading to the deposed strongman’s return to the SLFP fold. President Sirisena gave the UNP a rebirth by coming forward to contest. He risked his entire future. The hapless UNP that had lost every election since 2004 could not even find a candidate who could even give Mahinda Rajapaksa a decent fight. PM Ranil, if he contested, would have lost badly with 35% of the votes; Karu Jayasuriya or Sajith Premadasa a little better; CBK lot worse.

Instead of supporting President Sirisena, Kiriella is taking the high road. It is President Sirisena who gave a new beginning to the UNP and the UNP Leader a chance to extend his political career. Wickremesinghe out of his 38 years in Parliament has spent more than half in the Opposition, he is the longest-serving Opposition leader in history and the only UNP Leader to never head a government.

Sri Lankan people are sick of the various utterances of our politicians. We need a new batch of political leaders to take us beyond 2020. Kiriella, be generous in your words. Thankfully, President Sirisena did not lose his power in the 19th Amendment, if that had happened President Sirisena would have ended as a puppet dancing to the tunes of the UNP. 

A disgruntled voter