Senior Cabinet Minister and Leader of the House Nimal Siripala de Silva today slammed at former SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena saying he was carrying out a contact that was assigned to him by UNP Leader Ranil Wcikremesinghe.

He also dubbed Minister Sirisena’s move as a Diaspora funded foreign conspiracy that was aimed at destabilizing Sri Lanka. De Silva is the Senior Vice Chairman of the Sri alnka Freedom Party.

“In the past too,” the Minister said, “General Secretaries had left the party but the party moved on.” The minister was particularly referring to the crossover of the first General Secretary of the party, Bernard Aluvihare, and that of J.R.P. Sooriyapperuma, who is now a national list MP of the UPFA.

He lashed out at the former General Secretary for breaking away from the party and becoming the common candidate of the opposition. It looked as if the press conference was organized to counter the allegations raised by Maithripala Sirisena against the government at the press conference at New Town Hall in Colombo.

The Minister went on to say that Maithripala Sirisena’s act was nothing short of a ‘betrayal’. But, he said, the party would move on and win the forthcoming presidential election under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The newly appointed General Secretary of the party, Anura Priayadarshana Yapa too was present at the press conference. He asserted that former Minister Maithripala Sirisena’s campaign against the President was based on personal issues.

“You cannot run for presidency based on your personal issues and grievances,’ he said.

“Those who value principles and core values of the SLFP will not leave the party and betray its supporters. Therefore it is clear that those who have crossed over have no regard for the SLFP,” Yapa added. He also criticized the ceasefire agreement signed by the UNP Leader in 2001 with the LTTE.

 He also asserted that former Secretary Maithripala Sirisena had no right to speak on behalf of the SLFP as he did not represent the aspirations of those who voted for the ruling party. 

Meanwhile, addressing the same press conference, Dullas Alahapperuma, Treasurer of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, said, "this is all a mega teledrama." He also added that no foreign arm had any right to pump money into election campaigns in Sr Lanka. He also went on to dub President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the only leader who did not bow down to international pressure. 

The press conference was also attended by UPFA General Secretary Minister Susil Premjayantha.