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JVP not to meet Ranil, but to send rejection 

09 Aug 2022

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which leads the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance in Parliament, decided not to meet President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday (9) evening, despite announcing that they would meet him to reject his proposal for an all-party Government. The decision to not meet the President had been taken last evening considering the fact that the meeting would have proven futile considering the planned rejection of the President’s invitation to an all-party Government, The Morning learnt. Speaking at a media briefing held earlier in the day, JVP Politburo Member Sunil Handunnetti said that upon the invitation of President Wickremesinghe, the JVP members would meet with him today, where they will clarify that they will not be a part of the all-party Government that the President aims to form.  “We have already stated our stance regarding an all-party Government. The President has already formed a Government, so there is no point in making an all-party Government now. He has also stopped talking about an interim Government with an election being held as soon as possible. Now he is trying to consolidate his power and label himself as receiving all parties’ support to get international loans. We will not participate in this sham all-party Government,” said Handunnetti.  Handunnetti stressed that it is only fair that an election is called as soon as possible.  “The people clearly want one, even if most of the MPs, except the NPP MPs, do not. A country cannot move forward with a leader that the people dislike.” He further accused former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s supporters in Parliament of joining an all-party Government with the intention of hiding their corruption; President Wickremesinghe of forming an all-party Government to build his power; and Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Leader Sajith Premadasa of joining an all-party Government to hide the fact that his MPs would otherwise be poached.  JVP and NPP Leader MP Anura Kumara Dissanayaka has previously stated that the JVP’s proposal for an all-party Government included the conditions that the President and Prime Minister of such a Government would not have future political aspirations, that it would have a limited number of Cabinet Ministers, and that it would only be formed for a short period of time so that an election could be held as soon as possible.  The President has extended invitations to all parties representing Parliament to work together to form an all-party Government. The SJB and its constituent parties met with the President last week, following which Premadasa stated that the SJB will support the Government through Parliamentary Committees, but will not accept any Ministerial positions. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has expressed its support to the Government, while the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has also written to the President extending support for the implementation of a national all-party programme.


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