{"id":41420,"date":"2015-02-11T00:07:50","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T06:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=41420"},"modified":"2015-02-10T17:07:09","modified_gmt":"2015-02-11T00:07:09","slug":"slfp-lead-by-whom-and-for-whose-benefit-why-cannibalise-slfp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2015\/02\/11\/slfp-lead-by-whom-and-for-whose-benefit-why-cannibalise-slfp\/","title":{"rendered":"SLFP:\u00a0 LEAD BY WHOM AND FOR\u00a0 WHOSE BENEFIT?\u00a0 WHY CANNIBALISE SLFP?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By M D P DISSANAYAKE<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Structurally it appears that\u00a0 the President Maithreepala Sirisena is the Leader of the SLFP, at least on paper.\u00a0 But who is maneuvering<\/a> the steering wheel of the SLFP? Is it President MS, Madam Chandrika, Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva or former President Mahinda Rajapakse?<\/p>\n

So far the President MS \u00a0has failed to demonstrate that he is an Executive Presidential material.\u00a0 He has already been sidelined and not articulating the basics of a leader.\u00a0 He himself is unsure whether he is entitled to ” call the shots”.\u00a0 He is a follower than a Leader.<\/p>\n

The question is whether the Leader of the SLFP, President MS is dancing to the tune of Madam Chandrika, Prime Minister RW or former President Mahinda Rajapakse.\u00a0 It is clear that Madam Chandrika is quite a happy person after taking revenge from the former President Mahinda Rajapkse. Everything else is now secondary to her.<\/p>\n

In reality the Prime Minister\u00a0 Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe is behaving like the Executive President\u00a0 taking maximum advantage for the UNP from the destructive conflicts appearing in the SLFP.\u00a0 The unlimited\u00a0 “Ostensible Presidential Powers” exercised by the Prime Minister is benefitting the UNP, \u00a0Tamil and Muslim political parties.<\/p>\n

The current Prime\u00a0 Minister has not faced a vote of confidence on the floor of the House as required by the Constitution.\u00a0 Yet he is threatening to dissolve the Parliament if the no confidence motion against the a Minister is succeeded.\u00a0 It is clear that the Prime Minister has become the “de-facto” Executive President after silencing the President MS.<\/p>\n

In essence, the SLFP is inadvertently empowering the UNP to remain in power and win the General Election.\u00a0 Both the President MS and Madam Chandrika have got their tongues in cheek being unable to challenge the high handed acts of the behaviour of the Prime Minister Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe. The details of the electoral pact between MS. CBK and RW still \u00a0remain a mystery and not available in public domain.\u00a0 Therefore, it is a reasonable presumption that the trio’s long term objective will be to empower the UNP at the expense of the SLFP.<\/p>\n

Madam Chandrika’s father left UNP and formed SLFP . Later he formed Mahajana Eksath Peramua with Mr Philip Gunawardene, P H William De Silva with the support of respected Buddhist Monks such as Bambarande Siri Seevali Thero.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Should Madam Chandrika undo what her father pioneered?<\/p>\n

Before it is too late, will Madam Chandrika \u00a0realize the foolishness of the current political marriage and embark on the journey to bring back the freedom to the people of Sri Lanka, particularly to the majority Sinhalese, \u00a0free from international intervention?<\/p>\n

If the current trend continues, the outcome of a future general election likely to favour the UNP.\u00a0\u00a0 The way RW is behaving as an Executive President at the moment, is a clear indication of his future strategies if elected as the First Executive Prime Minister.\u00a0\u00a0 The UNP at present is tarnishing the image of the former government and it is regrettable that the SLFP will be guilty of cannibalisation.<\/p>\n

The SLFP should embrace an action plan immediately to:<\/p>\n