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Patali attends NLFP HQ launch

06 Sep 2022

  • Calls for political ‘middle path’
  BY Buddhika Samaraweera   Leader of the 43rd Brigade and MP Patali Champika Ranawaka, who attended the event to open the headquarters of the New Lanka Freedom Party (NLFP) led by Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Kumara Welgama, said that the creation of a “middle path”, through the unison of the independent forces in Parliament without succumbing to the slogans of the extreme Left- and extreme Right-wing political parties, has become the need of the hour. Speaking at the event held in Battaramulla yesterday (5), he said: “Today, we hear slogans from the extreme Left- and Right-wing political parties. In the midst of that, we must try to create a middle path by bringing together all the independent forces present in the Parliament. I wish that the NLFP will have the ability, strength, and courage to bring such forces together and create such a path.” He said that in 1951, slain Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike launched such a centrist political movement that did not succumb to the political movements such as the United National Party (UNP), which at that time was popular among the elite class, and Left-wing political parties such as the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and the Communist Party. Through that force, Ranawaka said, Bandaranaike was able to gain power in a very short period of time and make a significant political and social transformation, even though there are certain criticisms as to how he achieved this. Commenting further on the prevailing situation in the country, he said: “The country was bankrupt when Mahinda Rajapaksa came to power. When I pointed that out in 2013, I was even removed from the Ministerial position. However, at that time, former President and incumbent Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Patron Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and we were able to bring Maithripala Sirisena to power. Although that Government did not go on the expected path, it didn't allow the country to go bankrupt.” "Today, there is talk about the $ 12 billion in loans taken during the previous United National Front-led Government. Out of that amount, $ 7.5 billion was in the foreign exchange reserves. Former Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal spent $ 5.5 billion out of that $ 7.5 billion to keep the value of the Sri Lankan rupee at Rs. 203 against the US dollar. It is not those who launched the people’s struggle and entered the President’s House that should be arrested, it is the politicians and officials who have bankrupted this country that should be arrested,” added Ranawaka. Kumaratunga, Opposition MPs Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Chandima Weerakkody, former MP Jeewan Kumaratunga, former Kaduwela Mayor G.H. Buddhadasa, and many others attended the event. Welgama launched a new political movement called the NLFP on 6 March 2020, and the launch of the party was held under the theme “A clean Bandaranaike policy”, a reference to the policies of slain Premier Bandaranaike. Speaking to the media at that time, Welgama said that no force would be able to stop members of the SLFP, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, and all other anti-Government forces from joining the NLFP.  


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