Maithri, CBK breath fire against MR

• Common Opposition Candidate Maithripala says his removal as SLFP General Secy. was illegal 
• They robbed the country raw; now they speak of Western conspiracies: CBK 
• “We also have ‘files’ on President and sons,” says ex-President 
• Common candidate pays respects at SWRD Memorial in Horagolla

By Dharisha Bastians Presidential challenger Maithripala Sirisena hit back against the Government yesterday, saying his removal as General Secretary of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) was unlawful. “I am still the legal General Secretary of the SLFP,” Sirisena said, as he addressed media personnel following a visit to the Bandaranaike Memorial in Horagolla. Due process had not been followed in the stripping of his SLFP membership and his position in the party, the Opposition candidate explained. “The whole country has realised that the powers of the executive presidency are too much,” he said. Asked why no more MPs had crossed over from the UPFA coalition, Sirisena used a pithy local saying to insist that there would be more developments in the days to come. Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who accompanied Sirisena to her ancestral home, issued a scathing criticism of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, saying the Opposition also had ‘files’ on his family’s activities. She said the Government’s allegation that the common Opposition platform was a Western conspiracy, was old hat. “They robbed this country raw and now speak of Western conspiracies. That is their most standard excuse. What is this conspiracy? Tell him to substantiate this claim,” she charged. DNA MP Arjuna Ranatunga, who also travelled to Horagolla yesterday, said that if the President was seeking to hold ministers back in his Government with the threat of ‘files,’ that was proof that the country was facing a crisis situation.