'I had no control over nominations' - President tells civil society members

By Rathindra Kuruwita-2015-07-10

President Maithripala Sirisena has told nine representatives of the civil society on Wednesday (8) that he did not have total control over the nomination process of either the SLFP or the UPFA.
The civil society representatives met President Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat at 9:00 p.m.  The President had said if he resigned from the SLFP/UPFA, those who supported him and the MPs who obtained ministerial posts in the 'National Government' would not be even able to secure nominations.

"The gist of President's argument was that he was attempting to protect SLFPers/UPFA members who backed him," said one of the representatives who met him.
President Sirisena had also said he would make a public statement that he would not support any political party during the General Election. Civil society representatives had asked the President whether the move would not make the way for Rajapaksa to manage the UPFA election campaign; but the President had not answered that question.

The civil society representatives had then questioned whether the President had taken any action to prevent corrupt individuals from getting nominations. The President had said that he did not want to give nomination to 17 MPs, but that had been reduced to seven now. "Most of the UPFA members had told him that only three people should not be given nominations, the President said. Throughout the meeting, which lasted over 90 minutes, the President tried to explain his predicament. He also said he will remain neutral during the election campaign. However, the President was very vague about everything and did not reveal the name of anyone who might not receive nomination," the representative said.