Sajith says ‘no’

Tuesday, 5 November 2013 01:29 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The UNP leadership overhaul hit an early snag when UNP Hambantota District MP Sajith Premadasa refused to accept a seat on the Council. Premadasa said he was withdrawing his name from the list of Council members out of respect for the Buddhist monks who had proposed the reforms to the party leadership. “Karu Jayasuriya and I expressed full support with the monks’ eight-point proposal,” he said. Premadasa said there were three other key steps the monks had called on the leadership to take at a meeting on Sunday evening that he and Jayasuriya had agreed to.

“Even though I was nominated to sit in the Council, I cannot breach the agreements made with the Buddhist monks,” he explained. He assured the party of his full support. Premadasa told reporters there were serious problems with appointments to the Council. Premadasa is particularly irked by the inclusion of Samaraweera to the Council, the Daily FT learns.