JVP insists President Sirisena is still a traitor

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) insists that President Maithripala Sirisena is still a traitor despite the special statement he made this week with regard to the nominations given to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest the 17 August Parliament election.

JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who was part of the National Executive Council which was headed by Sirisena and appointed after he won the 8 January presidential election, said that the President could not wash his hands off the accusations now being levelled against him.

The President in the special statement noted that he never agreed to give Rajapaksa nominations from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) or the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and was not backing him at the election.

Rajapaksa was given nominations to contest the Parliament election from the Kurunegala District by the UPFA, which is headed by President Sirisena, but the President said he never agreed to giving Rajapaksa nominations and that the decision was taken by the party leaders in the UPFA.

Dissanayake said that the statement made by the President that he would not back Rajapaksa and that Rajapaksa would lose the election and even if he were to win he would not be made prime minister, was commendable.

However, he said that the President and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, through their coalition Government, had failed to ensure Rajapaksa could not return to politics once again. The JVP Leader accused the President and the Prime Minister of using their time in office over the past six months to fulfil their own agendas.

He said that the SLFP was now being controlled by a small group that was keen on ensuring Rajapaksa’s return to power, this time as the prime minister.

Dissanayake invited SLFP members who are keen on defeating Rajapaksa at the Parliament election to join hands with the JVP to achieve that goal. (Colombo Gazette)