Seven months after he was made de jure Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the main constituent of the opposition United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA), Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena  became its de facto head on Friday.

The group headed by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was reduced to a rump when the SLFP Central Committee unanimously decided to give Sirisena full authority to decide on the nature of the party’s participation in the National Government; who all will take ministerial portfolios and who will be the Leader of the Opposition.

In deference to Sirisena‘s wish, the Central Committee warned SLFP MPs that anyone defying its diktat will be liable to disciplinary action.

It is expected that at least 70 of the 80 SLFP MPs in the 95 member UPFA group in parliament will fall in line. But what Rajapaksa, who is an SLFP man and MP from Kurunegala District, will do, is yet to be seen. Since his die hard supporters, many of whom  represent small parties in the UPFA, have decided to sit in the opposition, Rajapaksa might cast his lot with them.  

Meanwhile, to smoothen ruffled feathers and get former Rajapaksa loyalists on board, the Sirisena group withdrew court cases against the two sacked General Secretaries of the SLFP and the UPFA, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Susil Premajayantha respectively.

Their places had already been given to Sirisena loyalists, Duminda Dissanayake ( SLFP) and Dr.Vishwa Warnapala (UPFA), but both Yapa and Premajayantha are to be made cabinet ministers in the National Government to be formed  with the United National Front for Good governance (UNFG) led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

(The New Indian Express)

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal met President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair met with President Maithripala Sirisena last evening and expressed his support for the government, promising to help Sri Lanka improve on its international stature.

Blair called on the President at his office in Colombo and commended the government on holding a peaceful election on August 17. He also added that Sri Lanka has huge potential in developing the tourism sector.

Blair is in Sri Lanka on a private tour with his wife Cherry and two of his children. They accompanied the former Prime Minister in his meeting with President Sirisena.

Tony Blair was a British MP from 1983 to 2007 and served as the Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007.

President Maithripala Sirisena offered the post of Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in the United Kingdom to retiring cricketer Kumar Sangakkara.

He made this offer at the felicitation ceremony held at P. Sara Oval Stadium a short while ago.

Sangakkara retired at the end of the Second Test against India, played out at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo.

Hailed as one of the best cricketers ever produced by Sri Lanka, Sangakkara was pivotal in the Sri Lankan cricket team throughout his 15 year career.

Sangakkara became famous for his outspoken views following his 2011 MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Speech. In this speech, he criticized the political influences to the game of cricket in Sri Lanka.

Former MP from Ratnapura District, Ranjith de Zoysa, said that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa cannot refuse to be the opposition leader of the new parliament.

Speaking to Asian Mirror a short while ago, Zoysa said that Rajapaksa's supporters will make him change his mind, even if he refuses to be opposition leader.

Rajapaksa told media recently that he will be a backbencher in the new parliament.

Furthermore, Zoysa said that a minority of the SLFP Central Committee was opposed to the idea of a national government. However, the majority of the CC is now composed of loyalists of President Maithripala Sirisena, he pointed out.

Regardless of the SLFP CC decision, he will oppose a national government and will sit in opposition, Ziysa said.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party Central Committee approved forming a national government a short while ago.

The CC gave the approval when it convened under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena, the Chairman of SLFP.

SLFP Treasurer S.B. Dissanayake told Asian Mirror that the CC gave President Sirisena the power to decide on entering the national government.

Meanwhile, a six member committee headed by former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was appointed to discuss the matter with the SLFP members who were opposed to the idea, Dissanayake said. The other members of the committee include Nimal Siripala de Silva, Susil Premajayantha, S.B. Dissanayake, Dr. Sarath Amunugama and Mahinda Samarasinghe.

Sri Lanka Freedom Party Central Committee is meeting this morning to discuss the post-election situation, political reports said.

The SLFP CC is expected to discuss the formation of a national government.

This is the first occasion that the CC is meeting following dramatic changes in the party. A new General Secretary was appointed to the party last week.

On August 17, 13 SLFP CC members were removed by President Maithripala Sirisena, who appointed his loyalists in place of the removed members.

Certain reports said that the SLFP was considering pulling out of the UPFA, effectively bringing the alliance to an end.