Courtesy Island

 Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Central Committee yesterday unanimously decided to join a national government as neither the UNP nor UPFA had succeeded in securing a majority of seats in Parliament.

SLFP spokesman and former minister Dilan Perera told The Island that the party’s CC had met at President Maithripala Sirisena’s official residence and latter presided over the meeting.

He said that members of the SLFP CC agreed to form a national government led by President Maithripala Sirisena.

Asked whether President Sirisena had removed 13 SLFPers from the Central Committee after the general election, Perera said that it was also reported in the media, but almost all members of previous CC had attended the meeting

Answering another query whether President Sirisena suspended the party membership of Susil Premajayantha on the eve of the general election, Perera said that it was reported by the media, but no such issue was raised at the Central Committee meeting.

A court order was issued preventing SLFP and UPFA General Secretaries Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Susil Premajayantha working in their positions until August 28 and President Sirisena suspended their membership of them after the court order.

Perera said that issues of the court order and suspending of party membership did not arise or discussed at the meeting and those issues were not in the agenda of yesterday’s meeting.

“Our party worked according to an agenda and nothing outside it was discussed,” he said.

Perera, who was earlier nominated to parliament through the UPFA National List, said that even the final selection of the NL was not discussed.

Perera said however Anura Priyadarshana Yapa did not attend yesterday’s CC meeting due to his busy schedule in his electorate in the Kurunegala District.

Perera said that a committee had also been appointed to draft a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be signed with the UNP and handle other documentation work before forming the government.

He said that the committee was headed by former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. Other members of the Committee were Nimal Siripala de Silva, Susil Premajayantha, Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Mahinda Samarasinghe and S. B. Dissanayake.

Sources said it was the first time in about ten years that Kumaratunga had attended a party CC meeting yesterday.