General Secretaries leaving SLFP is nothing new and no big loss as party men stay in line

Addressing a press conference held at the SLFP headquarters on Saturday, Minister De Silva pointed out that a general secretary leaving the party was not an unprecedented occurrence. “Even our first General Secretary Somasara Dassanayake left the party. There were several other secretaries who had departed the party, but none of those defections caused any major impact on election results. The party remained invincible thanks to its members who stayed in line. Their attachment to party has always been manifested during turbulent times,” the Minister said.

Minister De Silva said that former SLFP General Secretary Maithreepala Sirisena had become a cat’s paw of the anti Sri Lankan international community and Tamil Diaspora. “Sirisena took a wrong decision and we feel sorry for his opting out from progressive politics to reactionary politics. He has become a cat’s paw of anti-Sri Lankan international forces and the Tamil Diaspora. Sirisena today is surrounded by a group of persons who are motivated by hate, avenge and jealousy. Those attributes were amply discernible in their faces and words during the recent press conference announcing Sirisena as the so-called common candidate, the Minister said.

“Those who deserted the party went to political wilderness and some of those defected had to come back for survival. That is a fact and it could be exemplified by Anura Bandaranaike, Vijaya Kumaratunga and Chandrika Kumaratunga who had left the party time to time. But the only leader who remained in the party without leaving it was Mahinda Rajapaksa. He never left the party but confronted all the challenges hence party became stronger day by day,” Minister De Silva said.

The Minister pointed out that the rank and file of the SLFP would never vote for the abolition of executive Presidency and making Ranil Wickremesinghe the executive Prime Minister of this country.

“Sirisena says that his one and only wish is to see Ranil Wickremesinghe becomes the Executive Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. We do not know what the JVP has to say now. We would like to ask the JVP whether it could still support Sirisena, who is hell-bent on making Wickremesinghe the Prime Minister.”(Special Reporter/HC)