A key constituent of the Sri Lankan government on Tuesday announced it was quitting the Mahinda Rajapaksa-led ruling coalition even as the country awaits an official announcement on the widely-expected presidential elections in January.
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), or the National Heritage Party, made the shift protesting against the government’s reluctance to implement certain constitutional changes it had been pushing for, including the abolition of Executive Presidency in Sri Lanka.
“This [quitting] is not a challenge from an enemy force,” JHU leader Omalpe Sobitha told reporters, according to an AFP report. “This is a birthday gift to the President to correct his ways. This is the advice of a friend given according to the teachings of the Buddha.”
President Rajapaksa, who celebrated his 69th birthday on Tuesday, will seek a third term in office in the upcoming Presidential elections in early January, government sources have maintained.
JHU backed President Rajapaksa in the 2005 elections, and in his effort to defeat the LTTE.
The JHU leader said Mr. Rajapaksa had failed to ensure the independence of the judiciary and restore rule of law and end corruption, the AFP report said. JHU legislator and Technology Minister Champika Ranawaka said he had given his letter of resignation to the President, as did JHU member Udaya Gamanpilla to the Governor, to resign from the post of Provincial Council Minister.
