Sri Lanka ruling party sending mixed signals on alliance with president

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By Editor_1
By Himal Kotelawala

COLOMBO – The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) appears to be sending mixed signals on its continued support for rival-turned-ally President Ranil Wickremesinghe, with a senior spokesman now claiming that the party still commands grassroots support and has the capacity for a show of strength if ever it was called for.

SLPP general secretary and MP Sagara Kariyawasam, addressing a media briefing at the party headquarters in Colombo on Monday (17) said his party had an understanding with Wickremesinghe that it would support his efforts to “restore democracy” and rebuild the economy while retaining the right to oppose anything that had to be opposed.

“When supporting President Wickremesinghe, we had a certain understanding with him that we would support him in restoring democracy in the country and developing the economy and that we would not stand in the way of his administration. However, we retained our right to oppose things that we might have to oppose,” said Kariyawasam.

“That was the understanding. We believe he will honour that agreement, as shall we. There have been no questions so far about power. If it comes to a question of showing strength, steps can be taken as needed where necessary,” he added.

Kariyawasam was responding to leading questions from reporters on speculations that the already splintered SLPP was further divided on its continued support for Wickremesinghe. Journalists also questioned Kariyawasam on proposals from the party to Wickremesinghe to appoint certain legislators representing the party to cabinet positions.

The SLPP general secretary acknowledged that a proposal has been made to the president, and added that Kalutara district SLPP MP Rohitha Abeygunwardena, as someone who worked hard to bring the SLPP government to power in 2020, deserves a portfolio far more than main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Rajitha Senaratne, from the same district, who actively campaigned to defeat the SLPP.

Speculation is rife that Senaratne intends to cross over to the government. The MP has publicly expressed his wish to obtain the health portfolio, which he held during the 2015-2019 Yahapalana government.

SJB MP Nalin Bandara claimed a week prior that Power & Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara, considered a rising star in the Wickremesinghe-SLPP administration, had already declared the SLPP’s support for Wickremesinghe at a futures presidential election. However, Kariyawasam was quick to clarify days later that Minister Wijesekara had only said the SLPP could potentially back the United National Party (UNP) leader and not that it definitely would.

Save for a number of SLPP allies that by this time had sat in the opposition benches as independent MPs, the party voted en masse in July 2022 to elect Wickremesinghe as the successor to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was forced to resign after a wave of protests over Sri Lanka’s worst currency crisis in decades. Political analysts have said Wickremesinghe ensured the security of SLPP legislators who feared for their lives after a colleague was murdered by a mob on May 9, 2022 during a wave of retaliatory mob-violence triggered by an unprovoked attack on peaceful anti-government protestors in Colombo. Various members of the SLPP have publicly thanked President Wickremesinghe for “containing the threat” of allegedly attempted insurgency from anti-establishment forces said to have hijacked the hitherto peaceful protest movement.

At the April 11 press conference, Kariyawasam also made the headline-grabbing remark that SLPP national organizer and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa was fit to lead the country.

Kariyawasam is widely seen as a staunch loyalist of the former two-time finance minister.

-economynext.com

Editor_1
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