The noose tightened around the UNP Leader as the clamour for him to step down from the Opposition Leader post and the party leadership gained momentum yesterday.
The group of reformist MPs from within the party called for a no confidence motion against the UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at a group meeting held yesterday morning in Parliament.
The no-confidence motion was proposed by Badulla District MP Laxman Senevirathna and seconded by Monaragala District MP Ranjith Maddumabandara.
“UNP is on the verge of destruction, and we can’t bear anymore the time killing tactics of Ranil Wickremesinghe. It’s ridiculous to resort to committees as solutions to problems at party and national levels. If we need to present viable solutions to problems grinding the party at its very roots, the leadership must not only be proactive but also sensible,” MP Laxman Senevirathna said.
Meanwhile, Gamini Jayawickrama Perera, Sajith Premadasa, Dr. Jayalath Jayawardhana, Johnston Fernando, Dayasiri Jayasekara and Ravindra Samaraweera also expressed their concerns of the current leadership crisis.
However, MP Vajira Abeyawardhana expressed views in support of Mr. Wickremesinghe, but MP Indika Bandaranayake interfered and ended in a fierce verbal conflict.
“A meeting was scheduled for 5 p. m (Tuesday) at Siri-kotha to resolve the issues (that expired in the morning), but the meeting did not proceed as planned because the Party leader did not attend,” Party Chairman Rukman Senanayake said.
“Therefore, nothing concrete happened today. The meeting is rescheduled for tomorrow,” he added.
However, UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake denied that the evening meeting was scheduled to iron out the critical issues raised during the parliamentary group meeting yesterday.
“The afternoon meeting focused on discussing the party’s strategy at the upcoming Western Provincial Council election,” he said. He also denied that there would be a meeting tomorrow to resolve the leadership crisis.
“The UNP has been increasingly losing popularity at the grassroots level, and under the current leadership, without having any emotional appeal on the masses, party loyalists are leaving their once beloved party in ever-increasing numbers. A leader without a common touch always takes decisions detrimental not only to the nation, but also to the party. Almost all decisions taken by Ranil Wickremesinghe are wide off the mark and utterly rubbish,” senior MPs said. (PW)