BY Ruwan Laknath Jayakody
Members expelled from the Leftist parties attached to the United People’s Freedom Alliance urged President Maithripala Sirisena to give leadership to the civil society struggle and the victory achieved on 8 January.
The United Left Front comprising members expelled from the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (amounting to around 75% of the LSSP), the Communist Party of Sri Lanka and the Democratic Left Front called on Sirisena to get out of the corner he had got himself trapped in, in his attempt to save the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).
Attorney-at-law and expelled member of the LSSP Lal Wijenayake said, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the biggest threat to reversing the gains obtained on 8 January.
Rajapaksa resorting to the communal cry will have to be defeated as it is both dangerous and destructive, he added explaining further that if Rajapaksa succeeds it would mean that the country is pushed back into the era when there was no rule of law and democracy, and there was rampant corruption at very high levels of public office and a white van culture.
Rajapaksa has come back to get out of the wide net cast over his malpractices during his time, Wijenayake observed.
“Sirisena is a prisoner of the SLFP. The most powerful within the SLFP are the most corrupt. He must face this. Sirisena must protect our movement and move forward with activists supporting the Left, trade unions and civil society groups,” he opined.