Karu accuses UPFA of marketing Sirisena

The United National Party (UNP) has accused the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) of marketing President Maithripala Sirisena ahead of the parliamentary election as a last resort to win public support.

Former UNP Parliamentarian Karu Jayasuriya said that the UPFA campaign commenced with the slogan ‘Can’t do without Mahinda’ then they changed it to ‘We rise with Mahinda’ and now they have abandoned both slogans and have started using the photograph of President Maithripala Sirisena to boost their campaign.

“It shows that those who shouted the slogans ‘Can’t do without Mahinda’ have now changed the slogan to ‘Can’t do with Mahinda’. The group which tried to convene the SLFP Central Committee and oust the President and his loyalists from the party has now started marketing the image of President Maithripala Sirisena as their final trump card,” he said.

Jayasuriya also said that what the UPFA leaders should understand is that President Sirisena was not merely an individual but an icon of a program of action and the real representatives of the movement which stands for good governance, guaranteeing the supremacy of law and creating a righteous society are candidates contesting the elections from the United National Front for Good Governance and not from the UPFA.

 “The majority of the UPFA candidates are those who are accused of corruption, fraud, thuggery and spreading fear psychosis. They do not represent the thinking of President Maithripala Sirisena.  The group that broke away from the UPFA along with President Sirisena has come forward to contest this election as candidates of the United National Front.  It is now too late for the UPFA to guarantee their future by taking cover under President Sirisena’s image,” he added.

Jayasuriya said that throughout the whole election campaign, the UPFA based their propaganda on slogans related to the diaspora, division of the country and federal administration and when it was found that these slogans had lost their validity they resorted to staging hilarious dramas by exhibiting vials of poison and empty pots. (Colombo Gazette)