COLOMBO : Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has wrested control of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) from the Bandaranaike family, since it was founded in 1951.

`Unanimous' nod

The baton of the SLFP passed on to Mr. Rajapakse on Wednesday night after the party central committee `unanimously' agreed to amend the organisational constitution to enable Mr. Rajapakse hold two posts and elected him the new chief.

The outgoing president of the SLFP and former President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, now in London, is believed to have objected to the move through a letter to the party general secretary and Irrigation Minister, Maithripala Sirisena.

The Minister was not immediately available for comment.

Minister for Mass Media and Information Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, who made the announcement on the change of guard in the SLFP, said at a news conference that all decision-making bodies of the party ratified Mr. Rajapakse's election.

Mr. Yapa said under the amended rules of the party constitution, the former heads of the state representing the SLFP automatically became members of the party's managing committee.

The Minister did not refer to Ms. Kumaratunga.

Mr. Rajapakse and Ms. Kumaratunga have been engaged in a tug-of-war over affairs of the SLFP for a while now.

She had resisted moves to oust her from the leadership of the party launched by her late father.

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