Captain Cool quits General’s party

By Dharisha Bastians

Former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka’s shaky political grouping showed signs of unravelling completely after DNA MP and former Sri Lanka Cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga resigned as Democratic Party (DP) Deputy Secretary yesterday.

In his letter of resignation to the former General, Ranatunga said he was also resigning from his membership of the DP.

The Democratic Party is headed by Fonseka and is a constituent of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) which also includes the JVP, and won seven Parliamentary seats in the April 2010 general election.

With Ranatunga’s resignation, both Members of Parliament hailing from the General’s party have now quit, but remain members of the DNA.

In September this year, reports emerged that DP General Secretary and DNA National List MP Tiran Alles had issued his letter of resignation to the former General. Alles finally confirmed this development to some media yesterday.

Alles’ resignation followed an interview in a Sinhalese weekly, in which Fonseka declared that he was nobody’s puppet.



Alles is widely credited with having negotiated the former General’s release from prison with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, while Ranatunga has been a vociferous critic of the ruling administration, especially over Fonseka’s incarceration.