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Tensions within SLFP come to the fore

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: Trouble is brewing within the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) after the recent shuffle of Ministers. The move by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to induct defectors from the Opposition, leading to a jumbo Council of Ministers of 108, has been a cause of consternation within his party.

The simmering tensions among the top brass of the party came to fore in Parliament on Thursday when Anura Bandaranaike, Minister for National Heritage charged that there were "forces within the Government," surrounding Mr. Rajapaksa conspiring against the Bandaranaike family.

Earlier in the day at the Presidential function, Mr. Rajapaksa told senior colleagues of his party that he would not allow any one to divide the party. "I am neither Bandaranaike nor Chandrika Kumaratunga, I am Mahinda Rajapaksa", he quipped.

After media reports suggested that Mr. Bandaraniake, who was shifted from Tourism Ministry and Mangala Samaraweera, who lost Foreign Affairs Ministry are unhappy about the reshuffle, Mr. Rajapaksa is reported to have said that those who have differences with the party are welcome to leave it. He told Parliament that he had no confidence that the police would hold proper inquiry into his complaint. Meanwhile, on the instructions of the President, the Inspector General of Police has constituted teams to investigate the death threats to Mr. Bandaranaike.

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