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SLPP and PM’s office deny PM removal rumours

20 Jun 2022

  • SLPP says party has not requested President to remove PM
By Buddhika Samaraweera Both the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the Prime Minister’s Office have denied reports that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has informed a group of SLPP MPs to nominate an SLPP MP who can win the confidence of a majority in Parliament for the post of Premier, following a possible removal of incumbent Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe from office. When contacted by The Morning to confirm this, SLPP General Secretary, Attorney-at-Law (AAL) and MP Sagara Kariyawasam said: “I do not know whether some SLPP MPs have been informed of this by the President personally. However, if there is such a move, the SLPP should be informed first, and we, as the party, have not received any such notification.” When asked as to whether a request had been made to the President to offer the post of Premier to an SLPP member, he stated that no such request had been made. However, he said that in the face of the current economic crisis, the SLPP has requested Premier Wickremesinghe to take action to provide relief to the people instead of prioritising certain other issues. Meanwhile, when asked about this, an official of the Prime Minister’s Office claimed that reports of plans to replace the Premier are “fake”. Furthermore, SLPP MP Sanjeewa Edirimanne, when contacted by The Morning last evening, said that he was not aware that such an announcement had been made by the President. He also said that the most recent discussion between the President and the SLPP MPs had focused on incidents such as the burning of politicians’ houses during the incidents on 9 May. Reports are being circulated on social media platforms to the effect that President Rajapaksa has instructed a group of SLPP MPs to nominate an SLPP MP who would be able to win the majority of Parliament to the post of Premier, following a possible removal of Wickremesinghe. Meanwhile, SLPP National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa, who resigned from his post as an SLPP National List MP recently, had said that the party has repeatedly requested the President to hand over the post of Premier and the Cabinet of Ministers to the SLPP, at least until an election is held. “What we ask is to give our party the place it deserves; we deserve the post of Premier and Cabinet of Ministers, because the people gave power to the SLPP. If someone says that people have changed now, this can be proven in an election. Therefore, give our party its due place until an election is held. Our party also has good MPs and ministers. That is why the people gave us power,” he said, speaking to the media.


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