A nine member UNP Leadership Council was whittled down to seven a few hours ago after UNP MP Thalatha Athukorale, refused a seat on the Council this afternoon.
Thalatha Athukorale
Athukorale is a strong supporter of Sajith Premadasa who refused to sit on the Council after it was constituted yesterday, claiming it would be a betrayal of the monks that tried to broker the compromise.
Athukorale’s inclusion in the Leadership Council was strongly advocated by Karu Jayasuriya who was appointed Chairman of the new body, both because she was a Premadasa adherent and also would bring much needed female representation into the decision making process going forward.
Premadasa’s powerful media backers are insisting that Premadasa and his associates do not participate in the Leadership Council because that would prevent them from continuing the agitation against Ranil Wickremesinghe. With Jayasuriya at the helm of the new Council Premadasa’s backers believe that the path to the leadership is blocked for the MP from Hambantota.
The thinking of the Premadasa camp is that if the reformists who have been granted places in the Council opt out of the process, it can be condemned unreservedly as a Council made up of Ranil loyalists.
Jayasuriya who was hitherto believed to be a member of the reformist camp has been denounced in the Mawbima, Ceylon Today and Sirasa networks for betraying the reformist cause. Going forward, the Premadasa faction and its backers will treat Jayasuriya in much the same way they treated Wickremesinghe, sources said.
crazyoldmansl / November 5, 2013
Good riddance. The Athukorala clan has been a bunch of thugs and land grabbers for several generations.
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Sidney / November 5, 2013
Athukorala is a Wickramasinghe Relative so this must be a blow. Karu should bring in Rosy Senanayake and other capable women and a tamil into the working committee and take over leadership of the UNP.
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Max Silva / November 6, 2013
Let others resign.But one thing is for sure.That is that Srilanka’s official Judas the notorious backstabbing double crosser,the Bodhisathva Karu will not resign.The list of his backstabbing victims are quite impressive. Back stabbed Ranil on numerous occasions.Did the same thing to Fonseka.Now the latest victim being Sajith.Keep on Karu!
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Don Stanley / November 5, 2013
Who has heard of this Athukorala? She has not spoken for women or anyone..
Rosy Senanayake who has been working for women’s rights and Sujeeva Senaginhe who has been working for people who have been displaced by Rajapassa Casion projects in Colombo should be appointed to the places vacated by uneducated Sajith and Athokorala.. They have actually done something rather than running behind Buddhist monks…
New, capable and younger, educated and independent faces are needed on the UNP leadership council! Time for Karu to take a stand, lead and shove out BOTH Sajith and shameless and manipulative Ranil!
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anton / November 6, 2013
Don Stanley
Rosy has done nothing good for women – let’s leave it at that . She has no qualifications , and talks absolute rubbish most of the time .Looks and charm don’t mean a thing unlesss you have good character
and principles.
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whywhy / November 6, 2013
Don,
Good character and principles?From JR’s “Dharma
Dveepa?” Let us choose the next best Fox from the
box.If you choose the proven, best loser,you know
who.So,find a way to get rid of him.Once you managed
that,another acrobat will emerge to entertain you.
Circus won’t close.The era of good leaders long gone
because the era of good citizens long long gone.We
never had the shortage of bad leaders who poisoned
innocent voters minds for their selfish barbaric ends.
But they all have votes for which you don’t need any
principles or acquired qualifications except your
birth right.MR rejoiced on the streets,the LTTE victory.
Yes,he can,thanks to what LTTE did to UNP.Can any
sensible person ignore the fact that a party like UNP
was made into pieces by LTTE and still struggling to get
out of it thus leaving the country vulnerable without a
strong opposition?
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Banda / November 7, 2013
Rosy is a former MRs Queen or something. I thought, being able to walk in a bikini is a good enough qualification for guys who are obsessed for qualifications here.
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Nelun / November 5, 2013
Aren’t you supposed to be a watchdog for the people and not a group of immature individuals who have not performedand convinced the people they need a change of Government and not a change of the opposition leadership!!Guess Ranil is correct to hang on till you’ll grow up!!Good father for the party!
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Safa / November 5, 2013
Politics has many alliterative expressions. President Premadasa had a formula called the 3C’s – Consultation, Consensus and Compromise – for political tactics. His critics spoke of 3D’s – Division Disintegration and Disunity. After the abortive impeachment motion in Parliament against President Premadasa, Mr. Gamini Dissanayake lamented that the country was ruled by three great P’s – “Premadasa. Paskaralingam and Prabhakaran”.
http://www.island.lk/2001/07/11/midwee02.html
Looks like the Sajith camp should also learn about the 3 C’s otherwise it will be the 3 D’s.
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hearth / November 5, 2013
The committee selected is not genuine. They will always be in favor of Ranil’s interests. Very popular characters like Imitiaz, Buddhika etc should have been included, and the people who have done damages to UNP like Ravi, Mangala should not be there, Specially Mangala.
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Pandukabaya / November 5, 2013
Enough is enough.
I think Mr wickramasinghe should go.
These buggers will never ever allow Ranil to
sleep peacefully. They dont want a Dudley Senanayayaka
type leader.
Ranil must quit right now and let Sajith play any ‘Jogi Natum’
Hema can give some advise too on that.
Ranil’s doesnt field a strong team apart from a few freshers and Ranil himself is too decent for Sri lankan politics. What people want right now is a ‘Ado, Ammata’ leader.
The same idiots who blame Ranil would beg him to be back within a couple of years provided he step down right now.
Mahinda somehow wants to see Ranil’s back so he used Sajith and Sirasa.
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ilyasfazly / November 5, 2013
i am glad she opted out and kept faith in us the light hearted fighter she was… ironically, i would suggest that the unp leader and the wc give the reigns over to Rosy and the ladies to leade the bunch…. what have the got to loose after…how many ? 29 elections et all !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Omar / November 5, 2013
Its a pity that a person like Talatha opted out and chosen the wrong side.
Agree with Pandu above, Ranil must make a decesion.
Mr. Wickramasinghe – Disce aut discede!
Its sad that people dont know the value of the the last Gentleman Politician.
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Upul / November 5, 2013
Its all about them, is’nt it. And we the people are the idiots !!!
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Athula / November 5, 2013
You all just do NOT get it, do you? As long as Ranil is there, he will manipulate the whole council – HE HAS TO GO for the UNP to have any semblance of a new face, a new approach and most importantly, a reason for the voters to vote for the party again.
By retaining him any form, the message is – we need him. No, we do NOT. He is the reason the Rajapakses are entrenched as what they are – he is inapt, arrogant and the ultimate dog in the manger.
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srilal / November 6, 2013
Athula ,
well said !
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Anuruddha / November 5, 2013
This is a very tricky council with people with very different styles and views. We need a flexible leader to head this council.
Karu is the only leader who can handle this delicate council.
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Namal Perera / November 6, 2013
Nothing is going to change as long as Ranil remain glued to the Leadership Chair and his stooges in the new Council. The loosing trend will continue and Ranil the Joker will bury the party with him.
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Don Quixote / November 6, 2013
GOOD RIDDANCE ! I am well aware of the abuse of position that she indulged in when her brother was in power.
One bungalow in Yala was kept exclusively for their holidays.
People like this we don’t need.
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Sunila mendis / November 6, 2013
These lady Parliamentarians are non entities. Sajith premadasa is a shame to his father asking for the pound of flesh. All these anti Ranil elements are now visibly funded by MR. They are he’ll bent on not destroying Ranil but the very party which is the Opposition. Their gimmiicks will continue until the regime wins the remaining elections and then bash Ranil for failure to win? Any one with an ounce of intellect would clearly see this comical display of the so called reformists in the UNP. Let Sujeewa senasingha, Harin Fernando, Ajith Perera, Ruwan Wickremasingha, Rosy Senanayake , sagala Rathnayake ,the young Turks who have been loyal to the party be included in the council.
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srilal / November 6, 2013
RW is accustomed to high profile life since late 70 and he does not want any body to abruptly interrupt his privilege journey , as a matter of fact He wants to continue his selfish journey until he decides to call it a day , in the mean time 21 odd million people will have to put up his arrogance & gimmicks and to be mere spectators , when will Ranil come to senses that SL is much more than an individual’s miserable life? selfish Ranil knows damn well he will lose every thing once he says good bye to his official opposition post ,idea of relinquishing his official title is haunting him as he sees himself as CBK , no high profile meetings , no official foreign trips , no security escorts no nothing , RW will be history!
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anton / November 6, 2013
Well done Thalatha , good to see someone with principles and a backbone .
Ranil and his bunch of stooges will carry on indefinitely in the opposition .
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K.A Sumanasekera / November 6, 2013
One of my good friend’s first reaction after Rajapaksa got the Prez job,was, “Aney how can we say that sarong Jonny is our President,when our Foreign friends come to visit us”.
And she is neither Anglican nor Buddhist Bourgeois Intelligentsia either, although she thinks she is.
What would the great majority of the Cosmopolitan Intelligentsia will think of this Roman Like council,with 12.9.8??? sarong clads who look as withered as their beloved party itself.
Would this Upasakamma like figure here make much difference to this Council?.
Unless Ranil and his inner circle of real Bourgeois, and the Anglicans want to use this Council to hoodwink the sarong Jonnys in the village to vote against their current hero,
Is it why they have two Bkku fronts too?.
Just the plain one made up of the traditional Bourgeois monks from Kurunduwatta and Malwatta to bless and guide Ranil ahis inner circle and the B national made up of Harsha’s mates for the sarong Jonnys.
By the way if [Edited out] Rosie was picked, at least the over 60 Cosmo Intelligentsia woud have [Edited out]
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Anuruddha / November 6, 2013
UNP loyalists must realise that there’s no perfect situation at this point. No one can be perfect. There is every likelihood that this council is the best solution we can have. We must realise that Ranil CANT be just kicked out in one step.
Team leadership is always better than one-man (or one-woman) shows. We had no hope till Monday. Council, was a God-sent one.
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Kolapaata Jokiya / November 6, 2013
Thalatha, whatever her critics might say, has
some honour. Her husband was General Secretary
of the party.
She has been put in the Council to show they
are an independent lot. Talatha opposed Ranil
earlier. So quite honourably she has decided not
to serve and give legitimacy to a coconut when
husked shows RW inside.
All these tantrums and turning tables is because
one man wants to remain in leader of the opposition
in this five start democracy!! How can he ask anyone
in the Government to resign? Can he?
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Anuruddha / November 6, 2013
It will be better to have a female member in council as people will complain that there are no women.
@Kolapaata …
It was her brother Gamini who was General Secretary of UNP, not her husband.
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Kolapaata Jokiya / November 6, 2013
Thank you Anuruddha. That’s sure was
a mistake.
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wasanthi / November 6, 2013
We want to make Sujeewa nr 1 in Colombo. rani is not treating Tamils well .
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Lanka / November 6, 2013
Why don’t Sajith and and Thalath resign from the party or form another party instead of criticizing and disgracing the party. Why not join the government. Surely they may not take troublemakers.
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Thondamanaru / November 6, 2013
Quote: “RW is accustomed to high profile life since late 70 and he does not want any body to abruptly interrupt his privilege journey , as a matter of fact He wants to continue his selfish journey until he decides to call it a day – Srilal”
This council need to be embed with young blood. The likes of Imithiaz, Buddika, Sujeewa, Harin & GET RID of Mongal, Ravi.K…….
If this council is genuine, they need to first conduct an Audit for the funds received by RW and how it had been disbursed over the years.
RW is known to have received container loads of money at every elections. Where are they & what happened?
Need to Investigate how RW conducted the CFA with that Ex- gun runner for LTTE & later ambassador Westborg and the former Prime Minister of Norway, Bondevik.
Rewards for the signature to the CFA was RW being appointed as head or deputy of that Org for Democracy established & funded by Norway.
Due to some blessed intervention, Sri Lanka escaped being divided by Bondevik & Westborg at the time.
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