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The United National Party (UNP) yesterday said changes in its leadership would be among the issues discussed at the UNP parliamentary group meeting today, with at least two names other than UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe so far floated as options to lead the party.
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UNP Leader
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Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and former Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa’s names have been considered for the post, along with Party Leader Wickremesinghe, UNP Parliamentarian Navin Dissanayake revealed at a press conference held at the party headquarters yesterday. UNP MP Mujibur Rahman was also present at the event.
“There are diverse views on the party’s leadership. Karu Jayasuriya’s name has been proposed along with Ranil Wickremesinghe, and also Sajith Premadasa’s. We will take those decisions democratically,” he said, expressing his belief that the UNP had the capacity to make mature and accurate decisions.
Responding to a question on whether Wickremesinghe was keen to retain the party leadership position, Dissanayake claimed that the former Prime Minister did not want to hold on to positions.
“Ranil Wickremesinghe has a very positive view on the party leadership; he doesn’t want to cling on to positions; he likes diversity. Sajith Premadasa’s name has also been mentioned for the Opposition Leader position. We can have a very healthy, positive discussion on that topic tomorrow,” he stated.
Dissanayake stressed that there was diverse opinion on the Presidential Election results and leadership issues and claimed that the parliamentary group meeting today would be the start of the discussion relating to this, asserting that results could not be expected overnight.
“We hope to have a dialogue on these views. These issues cannot be solved in 24 hours or in a week,” he said. However, Dissanayake was confident that the UNP was capable of meeting the upcoming General Elections better prepared.
Commenting on what lay ahead for the UNP, Dissanayake said the party’s approach to the last election needed to be reviewed and called the election result an unexpected failure.
“We can’t point fingers at any one individual for this loss,” he stated, urging party members to rethink suggestions of breaking away from the UNP.
“The UNP has a history of 70 years. No one can break this party or break away from it, even my father and others tried but failed,” he declared.
Addressing a separate issue, Dissanayake said the UNP would communicate its displeasure to the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom in the coming days regarding its “two-state” stance on Sri Lanka described in the latter’s party manifesto.
“Our party condemns this move. We have always stood for a unitary Sri Lankan state,” Dissanayake argued. He pointed out that the Conservative Party of the UK and the UNP shared a longstanding relationship and asserted that Sri Lanka stood by the United Kingdom during the Falklands crisis when many remained non-committal.
The statement in the manifesto may have been an error and perhaps there may have been a lapse when proofreading the document, he opined.
He stated that the UNP condemned the recent Swiss Court ruling on the LTTE and expressed concern that the LTTE was long known to have links to organised crime, including drug trafficking and human smuggling. However, he pointed out that the party intended to study the court ruling before making a statement on the matter.
UNP Parliamentarian Rahman charged that the Government had begun to alienate the international community and expressed concern that the manner in which the State was responding to the detention of a Swiss embassy employee was confrontational.
He argued that the previous Government had worked hard to repair Sri Lanka’s image after 2015 and called on the Government to clear the country’s good name.
“We ask the Government to investigate this issue promptly and bring those who are responsible to justice,” he said.
