In a letter handed over to the Party Leader the UNP members had called for the meeting to take place this evening but the request was rejected by Mr. Wickramasingha who suggested the meeting take place next week. 

 

A UNP MP who was among the signatories of the letter told Daily Mirror online on the conditions of anonymity that 40 senior UNP members had met at the UNP Headquarters ‘Sirikotha’ today and had noted that the prevailing leadership crisis should be settled within the party by Wickramasingha, Deputy UNP Leader Karu Jayasuriya and UNP MP Sajith Premadasa . 

 

The 40 members were of the opinion that one of the ways in which the matter could be settled was to create a new ‘Senior Leadership’ post within the party to which Wickramasingha should be appointed. The members had then stated that Sajith Premadasa should be appointed as the new UNP leader and Karu Jayasuriya should be retained as the Deputy Leader of the party.

 

The members were also of the opinion that the work of the party should be handled by Premadasa as the UNP Leader.

 

After the informal discussions, a letter had been drafted by some UNP members requesting Wickramasingha to call for a group meeting after today’s UNP protest against the 18 Amendment in order to discuss the situation and reach a decision. 

 

UNP sources said that 28 UNP members who were present inside the room at the time the letter was drafted had signed it and had later handed it over to Wickramasingha. 

 

However Wickramasingha had declined to meet today and assured that a group meeting would be held next week. “When the letter was handed over to him, he responded saying today is not a good day to hold a group meeting. He said we would meet next week since 28 members had signed it. The only motive to hold such a meeting is to be able to solve the leadership crisis within the party,” the UNP MP said.

 

Courtesy: Daily Mirror Online