Ranil Okays Leadership Council, Wants To Retain Party Leader Position

October 4, 2013 Senior monks have called on the UNP Leadership to set up a special Leadership Council that will replace the position of Party Leader at a special series of meetings with Ranil Wickremesinghe, Karu Jayasuriya and Sajith Premadasa today.

Ranil

The monks are proposing a leadership council chaired by Jayasuriya who is a former UNP Deputy Leader. Wickremesinghe would remain Opposition Leader.

The meetings were held today at the Polwatte Rajakeeyaramaya in Colpetty.

Wickremesinghe who met the senior monks after Jayasuriya and Premadasa informed them that he was willing to establish the Council as long as he could remain leader of the UNP.

The monks’ proposal is to be put before the UNP working committee meeting on Monday (7) for decision.Read More

Karu Won’t Take Working Committee Membership Yet

UNP MP Karu Jayasuriya who was reappointed to the working committee of the party last week has decided not to accept the membership at this stage informed sources told Colombo Telegraph.

Karu Jayasuriya

As the crisis in the main opposition party deepens with the reformist Sajith Premadasa faction insisting on removal of Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe Jayasuriya has decided not to accept the appointment to the UNP Working Committee since many others have been expelled from the body and only he is being reinstated.

He has agreed to work for the UNP without new positions the sources said.

Jayasuriya has communicated this to Ranil Wickremesinghe.

It was earlier speculated that Jayasuriya would be given more responsibility in the UNP after his reappointment.

The next UNP Working Committee meeting will be on October 7.

Sajith Premadasa is also no longer a member of the UNP Working Committee after he was not reappointed by Wickremesinghe as Deputy Leader this year as mandated in the party constitution.
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