Sirisena goes to Thailand as SLFP crisis continues

Former President Maithripala Sirisena left for Thailand today even as the crisis in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) continued.

According to reports, Sirisena left for Thailand with a delegation but the motive for the visit was not known.

Meanwhile, a tense situation arose outside the SLFP headquarters today when a group of SLFP members backed by Sirisena had arrived with the intention of entering the building which had been sealed by the Police.

The SLFP members said that they were informed by the Police to arrive as they were going to enter the premises to conduct an investigation.

However, the Police had later told the group they were not going to open the building resulting in the tense situation.

The Police, on Saturday, sealed the SLFP headquarters in Colombo as an internal rift in the party intensified.

The Police locked the front gate of the SLFP headquarters building and placed a notice saying there was no access to anyone to the premises as an investigation had been launched over missing documents.

According to the Police, a complaint had been received claiming several documents had gone missing.

Earlier, a group of SLFP members led by former President Chandrika Kumaratunga appointed Minister of Ports, Aviation and Shipping Nimal Siripala de Silva as the Acting Chairman of the SLFP.

The appointment was made at a special SLFP politburo meeting held without the participation of Maithripala Sirisena.

The meeting was held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on Monday and was attended by former President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Kumaratunga recently obtained an interim injunction preventing Maithripala Sirisena from functioning as the Chairman of the SLFP. (Colombo Gazette)