Not in a hurry to take action against dissidents: JVP

19 October 2011 08:25 am Views - 3320

Addressing the first press conference after the split in the party, the JVP said today that they were not in a hurry to take action against the dissidents who defected from the party over ideological issues.

JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva also ruled out the need to convene a special convention at this hour. He said that the last convention was held in February, this year, the next one could be held after another five years according to the constitution of the party.

However, he said that the party’s Central Committee had the discretion to call for a special convention if the need arose at any time.

Though it was the first media briefing after the internal crisis, the General Secretary did not refer to matters pertaining to internal issues initially. He only talked about the matters related to the 2012 budget and briefed the media only on actions being planned by the party to educate the masses regarding economic dangers arising from this budget. He said that the party would hold a rally on October 24, 2011 in Fort, Colombo against the failure on the part of the government to fulfil the promises made in the last budget.

Yet, he was later compelled to make certain remarks about the political crisis after questions were raised by the journalists.

Asked whether the JVP had the strength to hold a massive rally, he said, “It is not a major issue for us to bring 10,000 or 15,000 persons to Colombo for a rally. We have the strength for that.

Also, he said that there is no internal political issue at all except a small faction defected from the party making statements against the party here and there.

“We do not have any problem at the moment. Those factionalists are now outside the party. There is no need to rush into any action against them as a result,” he said.

When asked about the dissidents claiming to be members of the Central Committee and criticising the party publicly, he said, “May be, their names are in the books. The Central Committee will act at the right time against them.” (Kelum Bandara)