by Chamikara Weerasinha
Former leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Somawansa Amarasinghe said he will resign from the JVP to form a new party.
Amarasinghe said yesterday that the decision was made on the grounds that the party failed to represent the true aspirations of the people.
“It looks as if the party does not have a plan to attract the common man. It is veering away from the aspirations of the people. It is in this context that I decided to resign from the JVP,” Amarasinghe said.
He said he would not distance himself from politics following his resignation from the JVP, the party which he led for nearly 25 years.
“I have decided to form a party that represents the true aspirations of the people. Those who are dissatisfied with the present approach of the JVP will join our new political movement,” Amarasinghe added.
He said the new political party would not be a hostile political party to the JVP. “It will only fill a vacuum that was created by the JVP,” the former JVP leader said.
Two senior ex-parliamentarians of the JVP are likely to join Somawansa Amarasinghe to form a new political party, informed sources said yesterday.
The two politicians played key roles in youth and trade union sectors in the party, they also added.
According to party sources, the two former Parliamentarians were also dissatisfied with the present state of affairs in the JVP.
Amarasinghe said he would take measures to officially inform the party of his decision in the near future. Amarasinghe, a past pupil of Kalutara Vidyalaya, joined the JVP in 1969. On April 5, 1971, at the outbreak of the first JVP insurrection, Amarasinghe was assigned the dangerous task of capturing the then Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
After the attempt failed, he was captured by security sources at the height of the 1971 insurrection. In 1974, he was sentenced to two years in prison. Amarasinghe became a Politburo Member of the JVP in 1984.
Out of 14 members, he was the only Politburo Member who survived the Second JVP insurrection (1987-89). He fled the country and led the party from exile for nearly two decades.
Somawansa Amarasinghe made a Personal Decision – Vijitha Herath
JVP Propaganda Secretary and Parliamentarian Vijitha Herath said yesterday that Somawansa Amarasinghe’s decision to resign from the party was a personal one.
“There is no division or split in the party. Amarasinghe’s decision to resign from the JVP will not cause any division in the party. It was a personal decision made by Amarasinghe and the party had nothing to do with it,” Herath said in response to the statement made by Amarasinghe on his decision to step down from the party.
“However,” Herath said, “ the issue should be sorted out amicably, through discussions.”
Meanwhile, speaking to the Daily News, a senior spokesman of the JVP said the party had not received an official letter of resignation from Amarasinghe so far.
Following his retirement from the party leadership in 2014, Amarasinghe served as the Secretary of international affairs in the party.
Courtesy:Daily News