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Ranil mum despite UNP pleas to enter P’ment 

17 Feb 2021

  • He may take it up at the right time: UNP Gen Secy 

  Leader of the United National Party (UNP) Ranil Wickremesinghe has not accepted his Party members’ repeated requests to fill the UNP’s solitary Parliamentary National List seat vacancy but may accept when the time is right, The Morning learnt.  “We will see. He might accept the seat when the necessary time comes,” UNP General Secretary Palitha Range Bandara told The Morning when we queried regarding the fate of the vacant seat.  Wickremesinghe initially dismissed a request made to him by a group of Party seniors to take up the party’s solitary National List seat that had been offered to him following the concluded General Election. He informed them that he was planning to spend his time writing a book and had stressed that there were young members of the Party who were more than ready to steer the political course of the UNP in the coming years.  When queried regarding speculation that Wickremesinghe‘s security details are to be increased, Range Bandara said: “Special protection will be provided only to a person who holds a real value to the country and for the ones who should be protected. If the Government decides to increase the protection afforded to Wickremesinghe that means that he should be protected and is worthy of such.”  When further questioned whether Wickremesinghe had requested for special security, Range Bandara said that the protection would be provided according to an assessment done by the Government.  The decision to increase his security might show how important he is, he added.  Meanwhile, in this regard, the Government has not taken any step to increase the security of Wickremesinghe, The Morning learnt.  Minister of Public Security Rear Admiral Dr. Sarath Weerasekera said that no decision has been taken to increase the security of Wickremesinghe.  “We have not done any assessments regarding Wickremesinghe’s protection so we have not taken a decision to increase the security,“ he added.  Meanwhile, UNP members had held a special meeting yesterday (16) at the Party headquarters, Sirikotha, to discuss the upcoming Elections and reorganising the Party stature.  According to Range Bandara, the Party members had specially focused on online organising, training programmes, UNP women's wing Lakwanitha, the professional ladies’ organisation and other aspects.  “Our intention is to form a Government but before that, we need to restructure the Party. Since our Party was always dedicated to empowering women, we will give the same attention this Election as well.”  The UNP suffered one of the greatest shocks in Sri Lankan political history at the 2020 General Election, failing to secure even a single seat from the Colombo District. To add insult to injury, former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was kicked out of the Parliament at the Poll after failing to secure enough votes from Colombo. Historically, the Colombo District has been the stronghold of the UNP.


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