{"id":149977,"date":"2015-09-01T00:01:01","date_gmt":"2015-08-31T18:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=149977"},"modified":"2015-09-01T00:01:01","modified_gmt":"2015-08-31T18:31:01","slug":"sirisena-to-lead-slfp-at-upcoming-local-government-polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sirisena-to-lead-slfp-at-upcoming-local-government-polls\/","title":{"rendered":"Sirisena To Lead SLFP At Upcoming Local Government Polls"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Maithripala Sirisena<\/span><\/a> will have to lead the Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s\u00a0campaign at the forthcoming polls to elect members to the local\u00a0authorities, expected to take place at the end of the year, a SLFP source told Colombo Telegraph.<\/p>\n

\"Maithri<\/a>The above development comes in the wake of former President Mahinda\u00a0Rajapaksa who led the UPFA campaign in a loosing battle against the\u00a0UNP at the last general election deciding to hand over the reigns to\u00a0Sirisena.<\/p>\n

A source close to Rajapaksa said that he has already conveyed<\/span><\/a> this\u00a0decision to Sirisena. This comes in the backdrop of several moves\u00a0initiated by Sirisena to consolidate his power within the SLFP.\u00a0However it is unclear which party Sirisena will lead, the SLFP or the\u00a0coalition UPFA in which the SLFP is the major stakeholder.\u00a0According to SLFP sources the party is most likely to pull out of the\u00a0UPFA shortly.<\/p>\n

Already the SLFP is divided with a majority supporting the national\u00a0government mooted by Wickremesinghe and Sirisena and others joining\u00a0the remnants of the UPFA led by Wimal Weerawansa, Vasudeva\u00a0Nanayakkara, Udaya Gammanpila, Kumara Welgama and Dinesh Gunawardena.<\/p>\n

This UPFA remnant group is planning to be the major opposition in the\u00a0new parliament which will sit for the first time tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Also they are planning to propose Kumara Welgama, the Kalutara\u00a0district parliamentarian as the opposition leader.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day the President had told some UPFA leaders that the\u00a0opposition will be permitted to appoint its own leader in parliament.\u00a0Earlier the SLFP CC decided that President as the head of the party\u00a0could take a decision as to who will be the opposition leader.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile UNP MP Lakshman Kiriella told media that the powers of\u00a0appointing the opposition leader were vested with the speaker.<\/p>\n

Also the TNA has thrown its hat in to the ring<\/span><\/a> claiming that the\u00a0opposition leaders post should be theirs for the taking as the SLFP\u00a0already has signed a MoU with the UNP to set up a national government.<\/p>\n

Rajapaksa has conveyed to the UPFA remnants that he will sit as a back\u00a0bencher for a short period and resign from politics afterwards.\u00a0However, according to a source close to the former President,\u00a0Rajapaksa may remain in parliament and bide his time if the new\u00a0national government does fail to click as a strong unit.<\/p>\n

Before the general election President Sirisena said that the Local\u00a0Government polls will be held after the parliamentary polls.<\/p>\n

The local bodies whose terms have been lapsed are currently being\u00a0administered by special commissioners in accordance with the Local\u00a0Authority Act.<\/p>\n

The government in March extended the official term of 234 local\u00a0government bodies, which was due to expire by the 31st of March, until\u00a0the 15th of May. The terms of other remaining LG institutes are to\u00a0expire in October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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