Dayasiri pledges action against SLFPers who attend SLPP convention

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary, MP Dayasiri Jayasekara says party members will not be permitted to attend the convention of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) that is scheduled to be held on August 11th at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium.

Is an SLFP member wishes to attend the event after receiving a personal invitation, they have to receive prior permission from the party leadership.

Jayasekara says the party will take tough action against any member participating at rallies and events of other political parties without prior approval.

“There were incidents in the past where some SLFP Local Government members attended some of the events that were organised by other parties. But I must say as a party we cannot allow such actions now. Therefore we have decided to take disciplinary steps against anyone attending political events of another party without prior approval,” Jayasekara told a media briefing.

However, there have been instances in the past where SLFP members have participated in events organised by the ‘Joint Opposition’ that were held under the patronage of former President, Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa who is also the de facto leader of the SLPP.

The August 11th convention of the SLPP is expected to see the announcement of the party’s presidential candidate.

According to Jayasekara, the SLFP had not received any invitation from the SLPP to participate in its maiden convention and as such no official decision has been made on the matter.

 SLFP-SLPP alliance

Meanwhile, the SLFP and SLPP are also exploring the possibility of forming a coalition to contest the upcoming Presidential elections as an alliance.

The SLFP Central Committee last week decided to call on President Maithripala Sirisena to directly hold talks with Rajapaksa on forming the proposed alliance.

Jayasekara has further stated that the SLFP is against the SLPP announcing a presidential candidate before the coalition forming process is finalised.

“Even if I get an invitation that does not necessarily mean I will accept it. We all have to work as a party. Therefore when we are holding a position within the party we cannot take individual decisions based on our personnel preferences,” he has said.

The SLFP General Secretary has pointed out that to bridge the gap between the SLFP and SLPP both President Sirisena and Rajapaksa should hold broader discussions to build a common platform so both parties can work towards the same goal.

“A discussion between the President and the Opposition Leader is crucial at this moment to form a coalition between the SLFP and the SLPP. We hope both the President and the Opposition Leader will hold a discussion soon.”

Jayasekara has added that the SLFP would support a national candidate who can lead the county with a vision to bring all political parties and communities together. He stressed that a national candidate should be someone who loves the country but is not limited to one political party.