• SJB’s Harshana Rajakaruna says UNP would require ‘purification’ pre-aligning 

Samagi Jana Balawegaya member, Harshana Rajakaruna called for the handing over of the United National Party (UNP) Leadership, presently helmed by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, to Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and Samagi Jana Sandhanaya Leader, Sajith Premadasa.

The SJB is a breakaway faction of the UNP. At the recent Presidential Poll, Premadasa was  somewhat a close runner up while Wickremesinghe was a distant third. Since the Poll, various efforts are underway to unite the two Parties with the view that the combined votes received would give them the edge at the upcoming General/Parliament Poll. The call for the SJB and the UNP to unite follows a meeting chaired by Wickremesinghe, following his loss at the Presidential Poll. However, no final decision on aligning has been made.

“If the UNP wants to align with us, they can hand over the Leadership to Premadasa so that we may purify the Party and rejoin,” Rajakaruna said in this context at a press conference. “If they decide against this, they can appoint a new leader and form an alliance with us. The reason why this is not happening is because Wickremesinghe still does not want to give up his power as the Head of the UNP.”

Rajakaruna noted that the SJB will put forward people who have not faced any accusations against their political career in the Parliamentary Election and that they would not accept those who have broken their trust. In August of this year (2024), the Supreme Court held that the expulsion of former Ministers Harin Fernando and Manusha Nannayakkara was lawful, leading to them losing their seats in the Parliament. Former Minister Thalatha Athukorale who was with the SJB also extended her support to Wickremesinghe.

However, the SJB urged voters to vote wisely in the upcoming Parliamentary Election.

“Parliamentarians are only a sample of the people,” Rajakaruna said. “If we want the Parliament to change, then the people themselves must change. We cannot complain that the Parliament is bad because that would mean that the people are themselves bad.”

Meanwhile, as detailed in a press release, a special committee has been appointed in order to investigate any opposition or problems that several parties had with the nomination list for the 2024 Parliamentary Election. The committee was appointed by SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara with former MP Eran Wickramaratne as its Chair and it consists of President’s Counsels Dinal Phillips, Nalin Dissanayake and S.T. Jayanaga.

The Daily Morning’s efforts to reach out to SJB National Organiser Tissa Attanayake, proved futile.