MR Camp Set For Plan B

By Waruni Karunarathne  

Former Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) member and Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) General Secretary Udaya Gammanpila said that several Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) members are preparing to extend support to Rajapaksa once Parliament is dissolved. He also said that if President Sirisena maintains his defiant stand and refuses to agree to give nominations to Rajapaksa via the UPFA, then Rajapaksa will decide on three other political parties under which he will contest the polls as the Prime Ministerial candidate. “Once the parliament is dissolved, a majority of Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) parliamentarians led by senior SLFP members will rally behind former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as that is where the people’s power is,” Gammanpila said.

According to Gammanpila, most SLFP parliamentarians are with President Sirisena because he is the one who runs the government machinery.

“They need the government power to survive in politics. But they are well aware that they will need people’s power to face the upcoming Parliamentary Election. They know the people’s power is with former President Rajapaksa,” he added.

Former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage told the media last week that on June 9, after handing over a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to Parliament, the opposition will gather public support to remove the Government by holding protests around the country.

He also said that public support will be gathered to make former President Mahinda Rajapaksa the next Prime Minister while Maithripala Sirisena remains President.