The Colombo District Court has extended an enjoining order preventing former president Maithripala Sirisena from serving as chairman of the crisis-riddled Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).
Attorney-at-law Lakmal Wickramarachchi told reporters on Friday April 18 that objections will be filed on May 09.
“Proxies were filed on behalf of former president Maithripala Sirisena and the general secretary of the party. We obtained dates for filing objections to the enjoining order. We expect to file our objections on May 09 and present facts seeking the removal of the enjoining order,” he said.
The order, made by the court following a case filed by former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, will be in effect till May 09.
Meanwhile, SLFP acting general secretary Dushmantha Mithrapala has filed objections at the National Election Commission to the new appointments made to the SLFP on April 08, media reports said Friday afternoon.
On Tuesday, Mithrapala accused party stalwarts of attempting to “betray” the party to its traditional rival the United National Party (UNP).
The SLFP last week appointed its incumbent vice president Nimal Siripala de Silva as the party’s acting chairman, amid much controversy. The appointment was made at a politburo meeting held April 08 morning after the the Colombo District Court issued an interim order the previous week preventing former President Maithripala Sirisena from serving as SLFP chairman.
Former President Kumaratunga, whose father S W R D Bandranaike founded the party in the 1950s, also hit out at Sirisena last week.
“When everyone asked me to run for president in 2015, I said no and brought in the SLFP general secretary, with great expectations. He ruined the country and the party too. That mistake was corrected today,” she said.
She added that the party constitution is a mess, which she attributed to Sirisena’s actions as SLFP chairman.
“I will never leave the SLFP,” she said.