SLFP undecided on contesting NE under new coalition

• Says it could have different game plan for North and East Provinces
• Next step to appoint committees to oversee preparations for Parliamentary Election campaign
• Believes backing of two presidents makes new coalition strongest contender

By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) will contest upcoming elections under the Sri Lanka Nidahas Podujana Sandanaya, although discussions are underway to contest in the northeast under a different alliance.

At a press briefing held yesterday, SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara said he was unable to comment further on contesting in the northeast as nothing had been decided upon yet. As for the coalition with the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), Jayasekara said the next step was to appoint committees to oversee preparations towards contesting at elections, especially on a provincial level. 

SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara

“We took steps yesterday to establish the greatest coalition formed in this country through which the SLFP will be contesting at the forthcoming elections,” Jayasekara said, adding that the alliance had the blessings of the current President and the leadership of two former presidents.

He added that the Leader of the Sri Lanka Nidahas Podujana Sandanaya was Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Chairman was SLFP Chairman Maithripala Sirisena, and Secretary was SLPP National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa. Dinesh Gunawardena, Dayasiri Jayasekara, and Mahinda Amaraweera also hold posts in the alliance.

While discussions on various aspects of the alliance are still underway, Jayasekara said they will be working together to establish a two-third majority in Parliament in order to abolish the 19th Amendment. There are certain plus points to the 19th Amendment, he said, citing the appointing of commissions as an example. The issue, however, was with how they function.

“The Election Commission is one such example. The members are on one side. The Chairman is on another,” he said, adding that this conflict was causing a lot of delays in the decision-making process.

While Sirisena’s role in the coalition was a topic of discussion over the past few weeks, Jayasekara said the former President took steps to rectify any wrong decisions taken by him in order to establish the Yahapalana Government by attempting to appoint Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister, while Ranil Wickremesinghe still held the post on 26 November 2018.

Jayasekara also commented on Sirisena’s role in the signing of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant, saying, “Whenever it was discussed in Parliament, he would put it aside saying it will not be signed during his presidency and that the next president can make a decision on it.”

The SLFP General Secretary also spoke about the Government’s decision to withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolutions 30/1 and 40/1, saying he had always opposed it. “Both of these resolutions weren’t presented before Cabinet, nor were they presented before Parliament,” he added.

The withdrawal comes in the wake of the US travel ban on Army Commander Gen. Shavendra Silva and his family over alleged war crimes and Jayasekara questioned how it was not a violation of human rights to ban his family from travelling to the US when the allegations were against Silva.

He said that local forces as well as the Tamil diaspora were influencing this, adding that it was both an interference with the country’s sovereignty as well as an incredibly wrong decision made in relation to human rights. “In no human rights law does it state that action can be taken against the family of those the human rights allegations are made against,” he added.

“Former President Maithripala Sirisena had the backbone to appoint Shavendra Silva as the Army Commander despite the allegations against him. Even when making the appointment, the US Ambassador put immense pressure on him to not make the appointment,” Jayasekara commented further.