{"id":48279,"date":"2016-09-04T17:27:08","date_gmt":"2016-09-04T21:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=48279"},"modified":"2016-09-04T17:27:08","modified_gmt":"2016-09-04T21:27:08","slug":"president-sirisena-strongly-hints-at-65th-party-convention-that-slfp-will-break-with-upfa-soon-and-contest-on-its-own-hand-symbol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=48279","title":{"rendered":"President Sirisena Strongly Hints at 65th Party Convention that SLFP Will Break with UPFA Soon and Contest on its Own Hand Symbol"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dharisha Bastians<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the strongest hint yet that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party is poised to break with the UPFA, President Maithripala Sirisena told his party\u2019s 65th Convention that they would contest the upcoming local government polls under the SLFP\u2019s traditional \u2018hand\u2019 symbol.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are firing the first salvo towards forming a SLFP Government at this convention,\u201d President Sirisena said in Kurunegala Untitled-7yesterday.<\/p>\n

Hinting strongly at party rebels led by his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa, President Sirisena said all members of the party must unite to strengthen the SLFP instead of threatening to create new political parties.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dressed in the traditional party colour, President Sirisena chaired the SLFP Convention in Maligapitiya Kurunegala yesterday that was held with much fanfare and drew large crowds. SLFP supporters converged upon Kurunegala from different parts of the island. Traditional drummers, dancers and musical interludes added colour to the proceedings. <\/p>\n

Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who currently serves as a patron of the SLFP, attended the convention. Several SLFP alliance partners also joined President Sirisena and SLFP leaders on the dais. <\/p>\n

Notable absentees at the SLFP Convention were former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and members of the UPFA faction calling itself the \u2018Joint Opposition\u2019. Rajapaksa, who represents the Kurunegala District in Parliament, is currently in Malaysia attending a conference.<\/p>\n

Since 2004, the SLFP has been the main constituent of the United People\u2019s Freedom Alliance that traditionally contests elections under the symbol of the betel leaf. However the UPFA\u2019s smaller constituent parties have been strongly critical of SLFP policies under President Sirisena\u2019s leadership. This faction is led by the former President and includes a large grouping of SLFP members who routinely flout party directives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe SLFP will rise, it will fall, it will fall and it will rise again, but no matter how many times we fall, our 65 years of experience teaches us that the SLFP is the only party which rise again and again,\u201d the President told an exuberant crowd.<\/p>\n

He said SLFP leaders had faced challenges like no other party. \u201cOur founder was brutally assassinated. The civic rights of Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike were stripped. President Kumaratunga lost an eye in a terrorist attack, Mahinda Rajapaksa overcame terrorism and won the war,\u201d the President enumerated during his convention speech.<\/p>\n

President Sirisena\u2019s speech at the convention took an emotional turn when he questioned why a faction of the party was challenging his leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are they challenging me? Why are they attacking me? Is it because I am an ordinary small man? Is it because I am the first President of Sri Lanka to have been born in a mudhut? Is it because I am the son of a poor farmer? Is it because I am not part of the traditional ruling class of this country?\u201d he queried.<\/p>\n

The President also vowed to fend off external threats, hitting out against his critics who claim that he was betraying the country to foreign forces. \u201cI will not permit any external forces to interfere in our country,\u201d he pledged. <\/p>\n

Also speaking at the Convention, SLFP General Secretary Duminda Dissanayake said the SLFP leadership had passed on to the most suitable and most deserving party members.<\/p>\n

\u201c65 years after the SLFP was founded, today the SLFP is a new party, a stronger party. That is why we say the party is in the right hands. Today S.W.R.D. Bandarnaike\u2019s vision for this party is being realised,\u201d Dissanayake asserted.<\/p>\n

He said that the party convention had drawn record crowds this year, and urged those who said were allowing personal agendas to take precedence over the wellbeing of the party and its supporters to come and see what had happened in Kurunegala yesterday. <\/p>\n

\u201cKurunegala is today a sea of heads. We urge those who don\u2019t know the strength of this party, those who don\u2019t value this party, those who place their personal agendas before the party, to come and see for themselves what has happened today. This party is finally in the right hands,\u201d the SLFP General Secretary said. <\/p>\n

Courtesy:Daily FT<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Dharisha Bastians In the strongest hint yet that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party is poised to break with the UPFA, President Maithripala Sirisena told his party\u2019s 65th Convention that they would contest the upcoming local government polls under the SLFP\u2019s traditional \u2018hand\u2019 symbol. \u201cWe are firing the first salvo towards forming a SLFP Government …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘President Sirisena Strongly Hints at 65th Party Convention that SLFP Will Break with UPFA Soon and Contest on its Own Hand Symbol’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48279"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48280,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48279\/revisions\/48280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}