Ready to become the next Mayor of Colombo: Dr. Ruvaiz Haniffa

By Yohan Perera  

Muhammad Ruvaiz Haniffa who was the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) mayoral candidate for Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) yesterday said he is ready to take over Colombo’s Mayor’s post if his party manages to get the support of other opposition political parties to form an administration.  

“Our party is currently engaged in negotiations with other parties to form an administration of CMC. I was asked by my party leadership to take over the Mayor’s post if it manages to obtain the support of all opposition parties in the council,” Dr. Haniffa told Daily Mirror.  

“I was not keen on taking over the Mayor’s post initially since I lost my ward. However, the party leaders informed me that SJB got a large number of votes because of me. They asked me as to how I am going to serve the people who voted for SJB without going into the Municipal Council. The other argument is that our names never appeared on the ballot papers. Only the names of the parties which have appeared on ballot papers instead. On that score, the party is to appoint me to the council. Therefore, I decided to take over the Mayor’s post if my party manages to form an administration with other political parties,” he said.  

Also, he said the party has already started negotiations with other opposition political parties to form an administration in the CMC. Dr. Haniffa said SJB has already had talks with the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC). “Negotiations were not held during the last two days as there was a long weekend because of Vesak. However, negotiations will resume shortly after the holidays,” he said.