Expulsion of rebels valid - UNP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 January 2000, 17:25 GMT]
The expulsion of Parliamentarians Sarath Amumgama Wijepala Mendis and Nanda Mathew from Sri Lanka'a main opposition United National Party (UNP) was legally valid stated UNP Chairman Karu Jayasuriya and General Secretary Gamini Athukorale in the objections filed by the party in the suit filed by the dissidents challenging their expulsion.

The objections stated that it was true that UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe had said that if necessary he was prepared to establish a national government under the UNP, but he had never said that he would agree to forming a national government formed by the People's Alliance.

The UNP admitted in their objections that the members of the Ceylon Workers Congress contested the 1994 August Parliamentary general election as nominees of the UNP and that on being elected to Parliament they had supported the People's Alliance while still being in the UNP.

They also admitted that while being in the UNP, one of the CWC members had accepted a portfolio in the PA government. The party had not taken any disciplinary action against them as they were not members of the UNP, they said.

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