UNP Working Committee split on proposed new alliance’s Constitution

Friday, 2 August 2019 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Conflicting information on decisions made at Working Committee
New alliance Democratic National Front approved by Working Committee
Seven members said to have opposed move
Those opposing demanded UNP candidate be decided before alliance formed
Some members claim launch fixed for 5 August, some dispute date

By Chathuri Dissanayake

Conflicting reports emerged following a crucial Working Committee meeting of the United National Party (UNP), held yesterday to deliberate on the proposed alliance, with members being split on the content of the proposed Constitution.

Prime Minister

Ranil Wickremesinghe

The Working Committee discussions, spanning over three hours with no agreement, led to the suggestion of a vote on the matter. According to some members, the move was opposed, but according to one senior Member of the UNP, a vote was taken, with 35 members voting for ‘Democratic National Front,’ while 7 members voted against.

“So we will go ahead with forming the alliance on 5 August, there won’t be any change in that,” the senior UNP member told Daily FT.

However, the Committee failed to give approval for the proposed Constitution for the alliance, as several members proposed amendments.

According to another senior member of the party who was present at the meeting, the “Constitution was passed, subject to amendments” and will be now be forwarded to the party leaders joining the alliance. Those proposing amendments have been asked by Wickremesinghe to submit written proposals to be taken up for discussion. The member also claimed that the launch is set for 5 August. Non-Cabinet Minister Dr. Harsha De Silva however, speaking to media after the meeting, said that no vote was taken, but objections were raised on several points in the proposed Constitution, including the appointment of the General Secretary, the decision-making process, and the office address of the proposed new alliance.

Further he said that no plans have been made final regarding the date to launch the new alliance.

“The power of the UNP within the alliance, whether power-sharing took away from the UNP and how much real power the UNP will have, was one of the main concerns. The second was whether we can sign it without going through it - we got it only in the morning, so there was discussion on whether the Constitution of the alliance took away power from the UNP,” Dr. De Silva said, speaking to Daily FT.

Another concern raised was the appointment of the General Secretary, with some members noting that the post must be filled by a member of the UNP. Further, some members opposed signing the agreement on 5 August, stating that they need time to go through the Constitution and the details of the agreement.

However the Prime Minister was of the view that the agreement should be signed immediately, prompting him to decide on taking a vote on the matter. The call for a vote was opposed by those who disputed sections of the Constitution, Daily FT learnt.

Non-Cabinet Minister Ajith P. Perera took to social media to speak of the working committee meeting, where he first posted the message, “Today is an unfortunate day”, only to later delete it. The status was replaced by him claiming that a final decision was taken at the UNP meeting.