Maithri sends hard-hitting letter to MR

13 August 2015 11:40 am Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 34 Bookmark

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In a hard-hitting letter to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, President Maithripala Sirisena as the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) today asked Mr. Rajapaksa not to raise communalism and said that he will not be appointed Prime Minister even if the party gets more than 113 parliamentary seats as there are more senior SLFPers who could be appointed as the Premier.

The President also said if the party did not reach the 113 mark, he could intervene to bridge the gap.

In the five-page detailed letter, the President said there were seniors such as Nimal Siripala de Silva, John Seneviratne, A.H.M. Fowzie, Chamal Rajapaksa, Susil Premajayantha, Athauda Seneviratne and Anura Priyadarshana Yapa to be picked as the Prime Minister if the UPFA secured an overall majority at the elections.

Therefore, he requested the former President to be generous and flexible, and to give his blessing for one of them to be appointed to the post. The President said it was hilarious to note Mr. Rajapaksa visiting temples with media coverage right from the day of his defeat at the January 8 election.

“In the media, I learnt of your intention to work closely with me. If you had such genuine intentions, I would like to bring to your notice certain matters. With the enactment of the 18th Amendment, people’s freedom and democratic rights were undermined. The social democratic outlook of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) suffered a serious assault as a result,” he said.

He said had the former president retired after the completion of two terms, other seniors of the party would have been afforded the opportunity to take over. Then, he said the SLFP would have produced both the President and the Prime Minister.