Responding the remark made by opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and common candidate Maithripala Sirisena that the latter is still the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, the newly appointed General Secretary of the party said such claims were nothing but frivolous.

The UNP Leader and the Common Candidate said Siisena was still the General Secretary on the grounds that he was removed from his position by the President “illegally”. However, the opposition is yet to explain why Maithripala Sirisena’s removal from his positions in the party is illegal and not in accordance with the party constitution.

Speaking at an event in Maakadura, Kurunegala, the new General Secretary of the SLFP said no one considers Maithripala Sirisena to be a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, as he has now joined the opposition.

“The former SLFP General Secretary is working together with former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to defeat the current President, while claiming that he is still an SLFP member; it is simple as that”, Yapa said adding that a member of the ruling party would not want to see the defeat of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The SLFP General Secretary maintained that a majority of people participating for Sirisena’s political rallies are UNP supporters. He was alluding to the fact that no SLFP supporter wanted to support the common candidate.

Yapa lashed out at the UNP by saying that they have always been looking for a way to defeat the ruling party and now, by supporting the common candidate, they have become more desperate than the JVP.