Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Tuesday expressed his opposition to his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa being nominated as the prime ministerial candidate of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)-led United People’s Freedom Alliance. Mr. Sirisena is the head of both the party and the alliance.
At a special briefing, he told the media that he had “no intention” of making Mr. Rajapaksa the prime ministerial candidate and that even if the SLFP won the election it had several senior leaders who are qualified to hold the post.
The President accused Mr. Rajapaksa of having denied many deserving SLFP leaders their due and criticised him for aspiring to be the Prime Minister even after being the President for two terms.
Explaining the reason behind his hard-line approach, Mr. Sirisena said that he had the option of either quitting as party chair or acquiescing when members of the ruling alliance demanded that Mr. Rajapaksa be allowed to contest for the post of Prime Minister.
Had he resigned, Mr. Sirisena alleged, Mr. Rajapaksa would have become the party leader and given tickets to his own supporters.
This would have meant that those who had supported him would have been left out in the cold, Mr. Sirisena said, and this was why he decided to continue as the party chairman and allow Mr. Rajapaksa’s candidature.
Rajapaksa’s designsThe President claimed that Mr. Rajapaksa had at first attempted to capture power by moving a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and becoming a member of the House through the national list. To thwart “these designs” he dissolved the Parliament, Mr. Sirisena said.
President Sirisena added that he would remain “impartial” during the Parliamentary election and would try and ensure that free and fair elections are held.
