The general secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Dayasiri Jayasekara has been stripped of his party membership with immediate effect, according to a decision taken by the party’s politburo that met last night (05).
Party chief Maithripala Sirisena sent a letter, informing Jayasekara that he was taking the decision as per the powers vested in him by clause 15 of the SLFP constitution.
As per the constitution, a disciplinary inquiry will be conducted against him, with a charge-sheet sent within the next 14 days, said the letter.
It is said that the main accusation against Jayasekara is that he had secretly plotted to remove Sirisena from the party leadership.
Also, disciplinary violations are to be cited against him.
Accusations against Maithri
The most immediate reason for his suspension is that Jayasekara has written to Sirisena, leveling seven key accusations of which the crux is that he has sent the party to ruin.
Top party figures Shan Wijayalal de Silva, Dushmantha Mitrapala and Angajan Ramanathan too, signed that letter in addition to Jayasekera.
They accused Sirisena of having conspired to challenge Mahinda Rajapaksa, whom the SLFP named as its candidate at the 2014 presidential polls.
Maithripala is also accused of having formed a coalition government together with the UNP in 2015 to deny the main opposition role for the SLFP.
Leaving the SLFP to ruin without taking any disciplinary action against any of those who had broken away and formed the SLPP is another accusation against him.
Also, the traditional Catholic voters had distanced themselves from the SLFP after the party leader was blamed over the Easter Sunday attacks.
Sirisena’s inaction as the SLFP leader at the 2019 presidential polls denied the party cabinet positions which it had been entitled to after the general election.
He has also allegedly made enemies of the nationalists and leftists, who were the SLFP’s traditional friends, by unleashing a verbal attack against them.
Sirisena is also responsible for the SLFP’s identity crisis, said the letter.
Sirisena is yet to respond to any of these accusations.
