The ongoing battle for control of the SLFP took an unexpected turn, on Sunday (21), with the Executive Committee of the party appointing Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe as the Acting Chairman of the party.
Dr. Rajapakshe contested the last general election on the SLPP ticket.The SLFP Executive Committee was convened by the party’s Acting General Secretary of Dushmantha Mithrapala, MP. Former President Maithripala Sirisena, too, was present.
On Saturday, the Maithripala Sirisena faction summoned an SLFP Politburo meeting in Kotte, but a group led by SLFP National Organiser MP Duminda Dissanayake, and Treasurer, State Minister of Transport Lasantha Alagiyawanna disrupted the meeting, claiming that the meeting was illegal. However, the Politburo Members supporting Sirisena decided to hold an Executive Committee meeting on Sunday.
Of the 14 SLFP MPs, elected from the SLPP, 11 are currently with President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Later on Saturday, Dissanayake wrote to Mithrapala expressing his displeasure at the latter’s decision. “Given that the Politburo meeting is unlawful, all the decisions taken there have no legal validity. You have called an Executive Committee meeting on Sunday, but you have no right to do so. Only Aviation and Shipping Nimal Siripala de Silva, who is the party’s Acting Chairman, can convene such a meeting,” Dissanayake said.
On 08 April, a section of the SLFP’s Politburo appointed Minister Siripala de Silva as the party’s Acting Chairman. They also appointed MP Duminda Dissanayake as the party’s Acting General Secretary. Dissanayake submitted documents to the Elections Commission informing it of the new office-bearers.
Those controversial appointments came days after the Colombo District Court issued an interim order preventing former President Sirisena from functioning as the SLFP Chairman. The Court also ordered Acting General Secretary Mithrapala, and Senior Vice Presidents de Silva, and Faiszer Musthapha, not to implement any order by Sirisena.Recently, Minister Rajapakshe declared that he had been urged by a section of the SLFP to contest the forthcoming presidential election as the SLFP candidate.