• Party leaders condemn it
• It is not a legal issue but a moral issue

By Kelum Bandara   

The nomination of Mr. Ravi Karunanayake as an MP on the National List came under fire from the leaders of political parties that contested the General Election under the gas cylinder symbol.   

The United National Party (UNP), along with alliance partners fielded candidates under the gas cylinder symbol of the New Democratic Front (NDF). UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe contested the Presidential election under the same symbol as an independent candidate. Later, the symbol was assigned to the NDF ahead of the General Election for the parties that backed Mr. Wickremesinghe to contest in the same manner at the General Election. The NDF dropped its swan symbol and adopted the gas cylinder as its symbol in concurrence with the Election Commission as per the law to facilitate the process.   

The representatives of the parties that fielded candidates on the NDF ticket met yesterday at the Flower Road office in Colombo and expressed displeasure over Mr. Karunanayake using his influence over the NDF General Secretary to get his name nominated on the National List.   

A party leader who attended the meeting said though the nomination is lawful as the General Secretary has the authority over it, there is a moral issue involved .   

“There is no legal bar over it. However, we had an understanding to act on our National List nomination. Mr. Karunanayake had been nominated without consulting us. It is a moral issue,” he said.   

Also, he said the NDF would decide on the nominee to fill the other slot later as there is no agreement among all yet on it.