By

Dharisha Bastians

President Mahinda Rajapaksa issued a thinly-veiled threat against his former ministers who quit his Government on Friday that he had ‘files’ on them all.

via: twitter.com/rangaba

Seven ruling party members quit his coalition Government last week, four of them holding ministerial portfolios. “I have enough files on their activities, but I won’t use them,” President Rajapaksa told crowds at the opening of the A12 Highway between Trincomalee and Anuradhapura.

He told the audience that his door was like a saloon door. “Anyone can go. Anyone can come,” President Rajapaksa noted.

He observed that many had left the SLFP and rejoined.

“Even Chandrika left the SLFP to spite her mother. So many have done that,” he charged.

“SWRD never left the SLFP and neither did Sirimavo. And neither did Mahinda Rajapaksa,” he said.

The President all those who quit the SLFP have tenuous futures.

“Those who come back are always better off,” he said.

Two UNP MP’s Including Senior Office Bearer to Cross Over to Govt?

The Government is poised to tear away at least two UNP MPs during the Third Reading of the Budget in Parliament today, sources told the Daily FT.

Several Opposition members had been approached to decamp, UNP sources said.

In a tit-for-tat move after the defection of SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena, the UPFA will attempt to secure the defection of a senior office bearer in the UNP, the sources said.

Another UNP MP from Kalutara is also tipped to cross the political divide. Large sums of money were being offered to Opposition MPs to cross over, a senior UNP member said on condition of anonymity.
The member quipped that at least in the case of defections from the Government, there was no question of money changing hands.

Opposition activists are predicting a few more defections from the UPFA during tomorrow’s Parliament session.

Courtesy: DailyFT