Some Diyawanna members owning liquor outlets are highly irked by the ongoing debate over the propriety of issuing bar licences to their tribe. What they cannot really stomach is the holier-than-thou attitude of their own colleagues, they say.

Meanwhile, a certain Diyawanna member, an owner of several liquor outlets, hailing from an area known for its cool clime has railed at his party bigwigs over their ‘duplicity’ regarding the question of issuing liquor licences to Diyawanna members. He had claimed that he had been using part of the income from his liquor outlets to meet the monthly pay of the employees of the party headquarters.

“Liquor bars were welcome for them when these bars were generating money to pay the employees of the party headquarters. They have discovered that it is wrong for us to own them only now…” this Diyawanna member had told a colleague.