Samaraweera vows to continue his political journey

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 March 2007, 17:06 GMT]
Mangala Samaraweera, dissident parliamentarian of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government led by Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse said no force can stop his political journey, during a meeting held at Navimada in Matara district Saturday evening. He was commenting on a report that he had been removed from Matara district SLFP organizer post by the party central working committee, sources said.

Sripathi Sooriyarachchi, another SLFP dissident was also removed from the party organizer post in his electorate Kelaniya.

Mr Samaraweera added a new government would be formed with the support of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the democratic forces in the main opposition United National Party (UNP).

He said he has dedicated himself to strengthen the SLFP. He has considerable support in the southern province and that he would not give room for anyone to destroy the SLFP, which was founded by late Prime Minister S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike, he said.

Mr. Samaraweera was one of three ministers sacked by Mr. Rajapakse in the first major reshuffle after last presidential election. Later Anura Bandaranaike rejoined the cabinet and accepted a ministerial post. But Mr Samaraweera and Mr Sooriyarachchi have been critical of the government since their removal. Mr Samaraweera held the post of Foreign Minister at the time of his removal from the cabinet.

Chronology: