G.L. swears to reverse appointment of Prof. Dhammarathana Thera as new SLPP Chairman

• Says appropriate judicial proceedings will be instituted to declare all decisions taken at the AGM as null and void
• Claims the so-called ‘Maha Sabhawa’ which met is not a duly constituted body and its decisions have no validity
• Prof. Charitha Herath backs Peiris and says AGM has been held in violation of the SLPP constitution
• Accuses certain SLPP members of acting according to the agendas of the UNP
• SLPP General Secretary Kariyawasam insists party’s AGM is well within the law

The recently ousted Chairman of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Prof. G.L. Peiris has threatened to challenge the appointment of Prof. Uthurawala Dhammarathana Thera as the new Chairman of the party and other decisions made at the recently concluded SLPP Annual General Meeting.

Issuing a statement following the SLPP AGM held on 22 April, Peiris said appropriate judicial proceedings will be instituted to declare all decisions taken at the AGM as null and void which will include the appointment of the Thera. The MP who broke away from the SLPP last year had also, prior to the meeting, warned the SLPP of possible legal ramifications it may have to face if the AGM goes ahead.

“The so-called ‘Maha Sabhawa’ which met is not a duly constituted body at all. All decisions made at this purported meeting are null and void, and lacking in any semblance of validity,” Peiris said. He did not attend the AGM despite being informed by the party’s General Secretary.

Commenting on the AGM, Freedom People’s Congress member Prof. Charitha Herath also backed Peiris and said it had been held in violation of the party’s constitution. Addressing a press conference in Colombo yesterday Herath accused certain SLPP members of now acting according to the political agenda of the United National Party (UNP). “The people’s mandate of the SLPP has now been laid down before the feet of the UNP leader. Those who did this are now attempting to conduct political activities of the SLPP according to the agenda of the UNP,” Herath accused. Herath stressed that the SLPP must adhere to the constitution of the party though certain members are now neglecting to do so. “This AGM was not held according to the legal constitution,” he said.

However despite Peiris’s allegations last week SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam said that the party’s AGM is well within the law. Kariyawasam said the AGM was called not according to the party constitution as assumed by Peiris but instead according to electoral laws in the country. He said accordingly the AGM was held according to the law, despite Peiris’s allegations to the contrary.