17 February 2021 03:10 am
Minister Udaya Gammanpila yesterday pooh poohed a reported speculation that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of India was in a move to form a political party in Sri Lanka and added that it was constitutionally and politically impossible.
Minister Gammanpila said people in Sri Lanka would not accept a political party rooted in a foreign country. Elections Commission Chairman Nimal G. Punchihewa said Sri Lanka’s electoral laws do not permit political parties in a foreign country to do politics here. “However, a political party or group in Sri Lanka is permitted to associate with any foreign entity but foreigners are not permitted to get elected to any political office in Sri Lanka,” he noted.(SANDUN A. JAYASEKERA)