RUMOURS THAT PRESIDENT MAITHRI IS TO GIVE UP SLFP CHAIRMANSHIP!

RUMOURS THAT PRESIDENT MAITHRI IS TO GIVE UP SLFP CHAIRMANSHIP!

There are rumours that President Maithriala Sirisena according to a special broadcast he is

scheduled to make on the last date, Monday the 13th when the nominations are to be received, that he is to resign from the SLFP and UPFA of which he holds himself responsible at present.

From the date news reached the public that President Maithripala had decided to give nominations to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his clan sometime back, a great antipathy developed from within a section of his own Party and the public in common. Though some considered it as a decision taken on behalf of the welfare of the Party, criticism was aimed at him on the grounds that authority was handed over to Maithri and his group for Mahinda and his group to be chased away on January 8th and not to betray the hopes of the masses by taking a decision of this sort. Political critics point out that if President Maithri had not given former President access to the Alliance, similar criticism would have been aimed at him from the other side. Therefore, the President, it is suspected, who was caught in two minds would have done what apparently was the best course of action. However, the UNP who were on a side, gained an advantage in the process by going into consort with a section of the SLFP to add to their political foundation.

Under this environment President Maithripala Sirisena has created a difficult situation for the public by granting a further leadership for the Mahinda faction. In the process by now Mahinda has made an influence even on the nominations list too and had almost totally acquired its authority. Rumours have now begun to circulate that President Maithripala Sirisena has palmed over the SLFP to Mahinda and is to look aside. Though Maithripala Sirisena as Chairman has strongly advised the Party not to give nominations to the corrupted and fraudsters, even by now a number of more than three or four of them have been nominated for the forthcoming election. As such, the Party is showing signs of moving towards certain actions and decisions, freeing themselves from the grip of Maithripala's rule.

President Maithripala had announced at the dialogue he had with representatives of civil organisations sometime back that he would publicly reveal for the first time about the decision taken on 13th Monday in relation to handing over nominations to Mahinda. As such, there is a rumour that the President would be addressing the public today 13th or tomorrow the 14th. News from political quarters say that by that address he would be abandoning his position as the leader of the Party. Minister Akila Viraj of the UNP and former MP of the Alliance Manusha Nanayakkara too have mentioned their opinions by now that the President would go for a decision of such a nature.