R. Sampanthan would continue to be the Opposition Leader since there had been no controversy regarding his post, Irrigation, Water Resources and Disaster Management Minister and SLFP National Organiser Duminda Dissanayake said on Tuesday. He made those observations at a press conference held at the Anuradhapura Irrigation Ministry office.
The minister said that the issue surrounding the appointment of the Opposition Leader was being used as a political strategy by the Joint Opposition itself, adding that the Joint Opposition was divided over the nomination of the next Presidential candidate, with Rajapaksa aiming to be part of the competition recently as well. He said that politician Kumara Welgama announced that retired ex-Army officers would not qualify as candidates.
"Even within the law, it had been proven that they cannot compete at Presidential elections," Dissanayake added. He said that the Joint Opposition, in order to conceal their political incompetence, had proposed MP Dinesh Gunawardena as the next Opposition Leader. "They have been converting their own interior problem into a national issue, exaggerating it in order to deceive the public," Minister Dissanayake said.
The Minister made an open invitation to the members of the Joint Opposition who were "politically-matured enough," to understand the direction of a true and just political stream in the country as well as for the masses to come forward daringly, without boosting or slaving for one family similar to Kumara Welgama and others like him.
Dissanayake added that President Maithripala Sirisena wanted all SLFPers to unite as one, while being faithful to the party's hierarchy. "Certain politicians have been using the President’s leniency against him in order to achieve their own personal agendas," Minister Dissanayake said.
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