Deputy Minister of Higher Education pledges support for Maithripala

Friday, 2 January 2015 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Two more Gampaha local councillors cross over to the Opposition

Deputy Minister of Higher Education Nandimithra Ekanayake expressed his support for common Opposition presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena. Ekanayake announced his decision at a media conference yesterday in the presence of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

The erosion in Government ranks continued with the defection of Deputy Minister Nandamitra Ekanayake who pledged his support to Opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena yesterday. Ekanayake, who was Deputy Minister of Higher Education in President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Government, expressed support for the Opposition at a special press briefing held at the residence of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga last afternoon. “I also wanted to be a stakeholder in the great change that is taking place today,” Ekanayake told journalists seated next to his former Party Leader. “I believe this change will be for the good. A change that will help the country to rise above religious and racial differences and create governance in which all citizens can lead decent lives,” he added. Ekanayake said he and Maithripala Sirisena had entered Parliament together. Sirisena was the true son of a farmer, the former Deputy Leader said. “We spent our time together in the Opposition, I am aware of his good qualities and his shortcomings. It is to the advantage of the country that he has made this decision to contest,” Ekayanayake said. Former President Kumaratunga also welcomed two more local level councillors at the press briefing. Gampaha Deputy Mayor Ajith Basnayake and Gampaha Municipal Councillor Wasantha Gunewardane crossed over to the Opposition yesterday. “They have joined our SLFP today,” Kumaratunga said. The ruling coalition has lost 24 MPs since President Rajapaksa declared snap elections on 20 November 2014. (DB)

No hidden deal with TNA or SLMC says JHU

The common Opposition yesterday asserted there was no hidden deal with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) or the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), as alleged by the Government. Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) General Secretary Patali Champika Ranawaka said yesterday that the TNA and the SLMC had agreed on the policy framework of presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena and had not signed separate deals with him – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

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