MS-MR in top secret powwow?

In a bid to unite warring factions of the SLFP ahead of elections, President Maithripala Sirisena met with his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa late Thursday, although the President’s office denied the meeting.

Authoritative sources told Daily FT that the pair met at President Sirisena’s residence at Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 07 on Thursday night.

The move is aimed at uniting the Mahinda and Maithripala factions of the SLFP, to ensure the UNP does not gain an electoral advantage from the split, the sources said.

The Presidential Media Division denied President Sirisena had met President Rajapaksa at the Speaker’s residence on Thursday. However, speculation has been rife that the pair was scheduled to meet.

Minister and presidential confidant Minister Rajitha Senaratne met with former President Rajapaksa before the meeting with President Sirisena, sources told Daily FT.

The meeting ended on a positive note, the sources said, after President Rajapaksa claimed he was uninterested in dividing the SLFP. The former President may even have provided an assurance that he would not contest the upcoming polls, the sources claimed.

President Sirisena held a meeting with his party’s parliamentary group yesterday morning, Daily FT learns. The decision to dissolve Parliament may have been made after the meetings with the Mahinda faction ended positively, the sources said. (DB)