Karu defers Working Committee membership

Friday, 4 October 2013 06:31 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Dharisha Bastians Former UNP Deputy Leader and Gampaha District Parliamentarian Karu Jayasuriya has decided to defer his acceptance of membership in the party’s apex decision making body, following his reappointment last week after a lapse of nearly two years. Jayasuriya had informed UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe that he would not be accepting membership immediately in the Working Committee that is scheduled to meet next Monday (7), the Daily FT learns.

The senior politician had decided to defer acceptance of his reappointment at this stage because several other UNP members who had been expelled from the Working Committee or whose memberships had lapsed due to technical issues would not be reinstated alongside, party sources said. Jayasuriya has informed the UNP Leader that he would continue working for the party but would only accept membership in the Working Committee if others who have been removed would also be reinstated for the sake of unity, the sources said. He told Wickremesinghe that the important thing at this juncture was not demanding positions and portfolios within the party but for everyone to pull together for the sake of the UNP. Jayasuriya is keen to avoid misunderstandings and misgivings about his decision to accept the reinstatement when so many others will have to do without, sources told the Daily FT. Former UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa has also ceased to be on the UNP Working Committee since earlier this year after the party leadership declined to reappoint him as an office bearer.