1 August 2019 11:42 pm
SLFP National Organiser and MP, Duminda Dissanayaka said if Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s claim of having renounced his US citizenship was correct, he must not hide behind newspaper articles but publish the certificate issued by the US State Department confirming he had relinquished his citizenship.
"My belief is that the blurred certificate of renunciation published by certain newspapers is the one issued by the US embassy in Colombo when he handed over the application to renounce his US citizenship," he said.
“What he has to do is to display the genuine certificate of renunciation at a media briefing and distribute copies to the journalists to cement his claim. It is as simple as that."
The MP said the SLFP was looking forward to seeing what would happen on August 5, when the United National Party (UNP) and on August 11 when the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) was expected to announce their presidential candidates.
“My gut feeling is that on the 11th, Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa will be officially appointed as the leader of the SLPP,” he said.
The MP said by some chance the SLPP’s presidential candidate was announced on August 11, it would not be a surprise should a different candidate submit nominations from the alliance in the event the ongoing SLFP-SLPP talks were successful.
He said however, the two parties must first agree on the policies of the proposed alliance and the talks must not be abandoned after August 11. (Sandun A Jayasekera)
Video by Suranjith