COLOMBO: In a hard hitting statement, State Minister of Rural Roads and other Infrastructure, Nimal Lansa told Wimal Weerawansa that he should not interfere with the activities of the ruling Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna, SLPP,of which he is not a member.
Lansa was responding to minister’s statement that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa must be replaced with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the leader of the SLPP.
“Weerawansa must understand that the SLPP is not his party and he has no right to either make decisions or comment on the SLPP,” stressed Lansa, pointing out that Weerawansa has no right to make such comments of the party groomed by ordinary villagers.
Lansa warned Weerawansa to refrain from making unnecessary moves to divide the party and told him to leave the cabinet if he does not agree to its policies and principles.
“ He has to put his house in order first before throwing stones at others,” Lansa said, urging Weerawansa not to shed crocodile tears but to look after his party well .
SLPP General Secretary Attorney-at-Law Sagara Kariyawasam on Monday Feb. 08 said Minister Wimal Weerawansa must publicly apologize for his comment to a local weekend newspaper where he claimed the President must lead the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.
The SLPP is of the position that Minister Wimal Weerawansa must withdraw the comment he made over the SLPP leadership, he said.
‘We are disappointed by the statement made by Wimal Weerawansa, the leader of a political party affiliated with the SLPP,” he added.
Referring to his comments on Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) leadership, National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader, Minister Wimal Weerawansa said there is no existing law in the country that prevents anyone from making any comment on other political parties.
Wimal Weerawansa has reportedly made a comment to Sunday Lankadeepa that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa should be the SLPP Head, replacing Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
In reply to this comment, SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam told a news briefing on Monday that Minister Weerawansa had no right to make such statements in relevance to the SLPP and added he should immediately withdraw his statement and apologize to the public.
However, Minister Weerawansa told reporters yesterday at the Courts Complex in Negombo that freedom of speech has not been curtailed in the Constitution.
“If it is so, we can’t make comments on other parties like UNP, JVP or the parties in our alliance,” he said.
“In my comment, I didn’t intend to make the point that Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa should be removed from the SLPP leadership and replaced by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa,” he underlined.
“What I intended was that a proper position should be created for President Gotabaya as well, while Premier Rajapaksa holds the SLPP leadership slot,” he added.
Minister Weerawansa said creating a new position in the SLPP for President Gotabaya would further strengthen the affiliation with other parties that are in the alliance
