Rift within ‘Helicopter’ alliance, refuted

Wednesday, 18 January 2023 01:38 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Spokesmen for the newly formed Freedom People’s Alliance (FPA) set to contest under the ‘Helicopter’ symbol at the upcoming polls have refuted rumours that coalition partner the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has decided to leave the alliance.

Holding a press conference late Monday following a special executive committee meeting, the FPA said the ‘Helicopter’ is very much together.

FPA alliance member MP Wimal Weerawansa slammed the media reports of a rift and said the SLFP will not contest alone as alleged.

“We will contest under the ‘Helicopter’ symbol in most areas. The SLFP will contest alone in certain areas but the FPA will also contest in the same areas under the ‘Helicopter’ symbol,” he said. Weerawansa said this piece of information was exaggerated to portray a rift within the FPA.

“The alliance will go forward. There is no issue. The decision for the SLFP to contest alone in certain areas was taken due to lack of space in the nominations list,” SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara.

However perplexingly earlier in the day SLFP Spokesman MP Weerakumara Dissanayake told the media that the party has decided to part ways with the FPA after disagreements arose when compiling the nominations list for the upcoming Local Government elections. He even said the party politburo on Sunday decided to place deposits to contest for all Local Government institutions under the ‘hand’ symbol.

The SLFP had to face many unfortunate incidents. Therefore the SLFP leadership has decided the best solution is for the party to face the polls alone,” he said at the time.

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