Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Opposition Parliamentarian Dr. Rajitha Senaratne yesterday (17) said that the media reports stating that he has been asked by the SJB to make a statement saying he will not join the Government, are false and baseless.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday, he claimed that there is no rivalry between him and the SJB as the media has reported, and that there will be no change in his position no matter what happens.
“Some media had reported that I was summoned before a disciplinary committee of the SJB. The said meeting was held at SJB General Secretary and MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara’s house. I went there because he invited me. MPs Kabir Hashim, Tissa Attanayake, and Lakshman Kiriella also participated in that meeting. It was not a disciplinary committee. It is a typical meeting between some colleagues. Some media had said that I had sworn and promised not to join the Government. Nothing like that happened there,” he said.
He also said that his opinion that everyone should come together for the development of the country at this time has not changed yet. “I said that at this time, all parties should support the Government’s effort to get our country back on the right path because this is a national issue. Some contradictions in the practice of two groups with the same political policies have divided the two parties. It is an injustice to the members of the two parties as well as to the country. I have no intention of joining the Government alone. I want everyone to come together to find solutions for this national crisis. Also, no disciplinary investigations have been conducted against anyone who left the Party. So, it is ridiculous to take disciplinary action against me who did not leave the Party. Such things will never happen,” he said.
He further said that the people should not be fooled by the false propaganda put out by certain unethical media outlets.
There are rumours that Dr. Senaratne would support the Government of President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Previously, several MPs who were elected to the Parliament representing the SJB joined the current Government and assumed Ministerial positions. Among them are SJB National List MP Diana Gamage, who supported the Government since the time of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and later crossed over and became the State Minister of Tourism, and MPs Manusha Nanayakkara and Harin Fernando, who assumed the portfolios of Labour and Foreign Employment Minister, and Tourism and Lands Minister, respectively, after Wickremesinghe’s appointment as the Prime Minister under Rajapaksa’s Presidency.