RANIL WICKREMESINGHE ORGAN ATTACKS G. L. PEIRIS, MAHINDA WIJESEKERA AND S. B. DISSANAYAKA AS MEN WITH ULTERIOR MOTIVES
(By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles)
The pro-Ranil Wickremesinghe Sunday Leader of Colombo attacked UNP party seniors like Professor G.L. Peiris, Mahinda Wijesekera and S. B. Dissanayka as members who present proposals for party reforms very insincerely, with ulterior motives.
The pro-Wickremesinghe organ said they were not proposals for the betterment of the United National Party but proposals with personal agendas for them to grab power.
The Sunday Leader which is doing all attempts to keep Wickremesinghe as party leader and the next Presidential candidate of the party despite the fact that he has led the main opposition party to 15 electoral defeats, accused the party’s national organizer S. B. Dissanayaka as a man who is trying to grab the party candidature for the 2011 election for himself.
For a democratic party grabbing its candidature by any member capable of doing it is quite natural but for a party that lacks internal democracy changing the leader even after so many electoral defeats is an unthinkable sin according to this newspaper, said some UNP members who commented on it.
Further attacking the party’s national organizer and exposing the great cracks now appearing in the party, the newspaper said, “it was Dissanayake who was creating an impression within the UNP that Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was protecting Milinda Moragoda and using it as a rallying call to move against Wickremesinghe. The newspaper said, “When Dissanayake was asked last week by several UNP MPs to prevent Anuradhapura District MP W.B. Ekanayake from joining the government, he has said, "If he wants to go let him go. Once everyone leaves like that, Ranil will only be left with Milinda. Then it is easy to make our move."
Accusing Professor G.L. Peiris also a possible candidate to cross over and join the government the newspaper said, “Peiris' name was also earlier in the list of intended pole-vaulters and he had held discussions with President Mahinda Rajapakse as well.”
The news paper accused Peiris of being “petty” because he argued with Wickremesinghe for giving more time for Milinda Moragoda with Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran than for him. Revealing these differences Wickremesinghe left for India with Moragoda and without Peiris, last week.
The newspaper also revealed other divisions of the party: “Further, the controversy surrounding the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) has also resulted in a split within the party. Moragoda, Mohomed Maharoof and Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena are on one side while Peiris, Dissanayake, Wijesekera, Ravi Karunanayake, Rajitha Senaratne and M.H. Mohomed are on the other.”
