Popular actress Damitha Abeyrathne today (16) said she is considering resigning from politics due to the disappointment of the fiasco she faced regarding nominations from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB).

“I didn’t want to resign. I wanted to embark on a long journey in mainstream politics. The nomination board approved my candidacy and even contradicted me for that. But they conspired against me, so I have to resign.”

Abeyrathne was hopeful of receiving nominations under the SJB ticket for the Ratnapura District. She actively participated in election propaganda campaigns for the party, and her candidacy had been confirmed. However, the SJB removed her name from the nomination list at the last moment without informing her. She found out about it when she went to the Ratnapura District Secretariat to submit her nomination.

SJB Ratnapura District Team Leader Hesha Withanage later stated that although Abeyrathne worked hard on the district election campaigns, the party did not want to "import" candidates from other districts to contest in the general election.

Speaking to the media today (16), visibly upset Abeyrathne expressed her suspicion that Hesha Withanage was behind the "conspiracy" against her, as he might have thought that he could not secure a position at the top of the preferential vote list in the district because of her.

“I think he was scared that I would surpass his number of votes in the election. SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa also confirmed my candidacy. This is not democracy; this is totally unacceptable. If I was not getting the nominations, they could have informed me beforehand. It was as simple as that. But they didn’t inform me. This violates the rights of a common person. Hesha Withanage invited me, saying that since Thalatha Atukorale is no longer in the party or the district, I could fill her place,” she said.

“The SJB could have won easily in the upcoming election. But owing to the unprofessionalism and ungratefulness of them, now the victory is not even close. I saw that SJB General Secretary Ranjith Maddumabandara said that my nomination issue was caused by a miscommunication. That is a joke. I urge Maddumabandara not to make such irresponsible statements,” Abeyrathne added.