UNPers who had formed another party will lose positions in UNP: Vajira

All those UNPers who had formed another party will lose the positions they hold in the party once they sign the nomination papers to contest from another party, former UNP MP Vajira Abeywardene said today.

Mr. Abeywardene told a press conference that this was the position of those who contest this year’s general election from another party as per the UNP constitution.

“Those who contest from another party will lose all their positions in the UNP as soon as they sign nomination papers from another party,” he said.

“UNP is silent about this position at the moment. However one should not think that this is a weakness of the UNP. If party members continue to work against the party, UNP will not hesitate to take action against them,” Mr. Abeywardene added.

Also, he said that some give wrong interpretations to the decisions made by the UNP working committee. “UNP General Secretary will explain the correct position on the decisions made by the working committee shortly,” he said.

“No UNPer has the power to form another political party. However, the working committee gave permission to form an alliance in order to safeguard the unity within the party. The leadership of the alliance was given to the Deputy Leader of the party while he was also appointed the head of the nomination board. The working committee also instructed those who wanted to form an alliance to submit a policy statement. When a party is borrowed by another it is accepted as a political party and not an alliance,” he said.

“UNP keeps silent without taking any steps following the advice of party leader not to confront the other group,” he added. (Yohan Perera)