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Tuesday, 10 March 2020 01:38 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Last-ditch efforts to mend the deeply-divided United National Party (UNP) failed yesterday after an emergency meeting between opposing factions within the party failed to yield a consensus, the Daily FT learned.
Loyalists of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa met last night but failed to agree on a compromise, with the former faction adamant that they would contest 22 districts under the elephant symbol, which they refused to relinquish. Both delegations were also accompanied by legal experts.
Despite Premadasa extending an olive branch, the UNP delegation was adamant that the SJB Constitution was not adequately framed and feared its nominations would be rejected if the Constitution was not amended prior to an agreement with the UNP, sources said.
The Daily FT learns that the Wickremesinghe faction requested the SJB faction to submit documentation regarding the SJB Constitution, which the SJB claims it provided.
“We have shown them all the documents they requested and explained to them that the amendments made to the Samagi Jana Balawegaya Constitution were accepted by the Election Commission,” said former MP Sujeewa Senasinghe, who was among the SJB delegates at the meeting.
The leadership battle between Premadasa and Wickremesinghe, which began before the November 2019 Presidential Elections, has gone unresolved in spite of a number of meetings of the Working Committee and Parliamentary Group as well as interventions by senior party member seeking to address the matter.
However, the door is open for negotiations between the UNP and the SJB, its General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara said at the launch of the party head office last morning. Nevertheless, time may be running out as the last day to submit nominations is 19 March.
“Negotiations are basically still ongoing,” former UNP MP Ajith P. Perera told the Daily FT.
“The SJB already has the UNP Working Committee’s endorsement. If need be, we can seek the Working Committee’s approval for a new MoU,” he added.
Both Bandara and SJB leader Premadasa stressed that the party had an open-door policy and that anyone who wished to serve the public could join them. The office, established a short distance from the UNP headquarters of Sirikotha in Ethul Kotte, was visited by a large crowd, with many UNP and minority party Parliamentarians present at the launch.
Speaking at the launch, Premadasa reiterated that the SJB was established under a directive given to him by the UNP Working Committee on the 30 January.
“We are on the cusp of forming the most powerful and progressive political movement and we will be victorious at the election,” he stressed.
“The day before we launched the SJB at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre, the General Secretary (Ranjith Madduma Bandara) and I went to visit our leader (Ranil Wickremesinghe) at his residence and invited him to join us at the launch; he did not attend. However, that invitation is valid to this day,” Premadasa said.
The SJB is ready to sign an MoU with the UNP and move forward towards the General Elections, Senior UNP member Malik Samarawickrama told the Daily FT. A majority of UNP members and organisers have aligned with the SJB and a MoU with the SJB will be best for the UNP and all stakeholders, he opined.
“The ball is in the UNP’s court,” he said.
A senior UNP member aligned with the SJB said that the new party formed by crossover SLFP Parliamentarian Gamini Vijith Vijithamuni Soysa will join the SJB in the coming days.
