Wrong for the UNP to hand over power: Vajira, Wijepala

It was the mistake for the United National Party (UNP) to hand over the government to Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) following the presidential election, two UNP MPs from the Galle District said over the weekend.

They also said that the resignation of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister was also wrong.

Speaking at the UNP’s Bala Mandala meeting in Galle on Saturday, UNP MPs Vajira Abeywardene and Wijepala Hettiarachchi said it would have been advantageous for the UNP to hold the parliamentary elections under the UNP-led caretaker government.

“The UNP would have been in an advantageous position if it remained in the government without handing it over to SLPP,” MP Abeywardane said.

He charged that resignation of some former ministers prompted the party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe also to resign from the post of Prime Minister and hand over the government to SLPP.

“A father should remain as the head of a household even if the son is more qualified,” the MP said.

Mr Abeywardene said the party should have taken action against those who spoke against Buddhist monks as well.

"The party leadership should prohibit members talking of any religion without knowing facts about a particular religion,” he said.

He said the UNP should focus on capturing the 2.5 million votes of Buddhists and the middle-class votes, which it lost at the recent presidential election.

“Some members are trying to destroy party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and the presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa by trying to promote their own ideas,” he also said.

MP Hettiarachchi also said Mr Wickremesinghe should not have resigned from the Prime Minister’s post.

While recalling that UNP could not hold on to the premiership and the government which the Speaker secured for the party after October 26, 2018 drama, the MP said Mr Wickremesinghe should have announced that he would be the party’s presidential candidate just after he was sworn in as the Prime Minister in December 2018 following the constitutional coup. (Yohan Perera)

Pix by Pradeep Pathirana