President regrets decision by JJB not to join talks

By Yohan Perera / Ajith Siriwardana 

President Ranil Wickremesinghe had informed Jathika Jana Balawegaya Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake that he regrets the decision made by the latter not to participate in a dialogue to form an all-party govt. 

 President had said he is willing to consider the demand made by JJB.

Meanwhile, rejecting the invitation made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to come for a dialogue to discuss forming an all-party government, Jathika Jana Balawegaya Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake in a letter addressed to President had called for a snap general election. 

“As an all-party or multi-party government cannot go on for long and has no mandate, it is better to go for a general election immediately,” JJB Leader said in his letter to President. 

“The best time to form an all-party government would have been the time former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced his decision to resign and left the country. However, an opportunity to form an all-party government was lost,” he said. 

“It would have been possible to form a proper all-party government if an MP who has no political ambitions was appointed as the President and a Prime Minister was appointed with the agreement of all MPs in Parliament. Also, our demands which we came out earlier including taking action against the corrupt and thus refilling cases which were withdrawn against those who were charged with corruption while all complaints filed with the Bribery Commission were reactivated. 

However, our decision will be changed if you agree to our demands and implement them according to a time frame, Dissanayake said.

• The best time to form an all-party government would have been the time former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced his decision to resign and left the country