General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Dayasiri Jayasekera says that the SLFP is focusing on strengthening their voter base in the North and the East following the considerable victory SLFP recorded in Jaffna in the General Election 2020. In an interview with the Sunday Observer, he discussed more plans to be rolled out in the future.
Full Interview:
Q: The General Election ended with a landslide victory for the SLPP and SLFP coalition. What is your reading about the election result as the General Secretary of the SLFP?
A: Yes, 14 SLFP members have been elected to Parliament and I must thank the public for the trust they placed upon all of us and for the landslide victory of the SLPP. Now, we have to execute the program of rebuilding the nation. It is a long journey forward. Only by ensuring a successful journey towards that end,can we secure people’s respect and do justice to this mandate.
Q: The SLFP contested three districts (Jaffna/ Nuwara Eliya and Kalutara) independently. Did the SLFP get the anticipated outcome?
A: Yes of course. After several years SLFP recorded a massive victory in the Jaffna electoral district. We are delighted by that. It reflects that the people in the North have felt the importance of the SLFP. With that, we expect to create a stronger bond with Tamil and Muslim communities in the North and the East in the future.
In other districts, there was a huge attraction towards the SLPP and it resulted in the retreat of the SLFP in rest of the districts we contested independently. Let us see how to overcome challenges and continue our political activities.
Q. Did the Sri Lanka Freedom Party have a review after the elections?
A: No, we have not yet had one . We will meet on Sunday (9) to discuss our future activities further.
Q. What are the key topics that will be discussed at this meeting?
A: We will review the election results and our performance. Then, moving forward we will discuss our plans. There are many members who were behind our success in the election. Also, we must consider ways of strengthening the party.
Q. Would the SLFP go into a reconsideration of the Party leadership?
A: No there is no need for such a move.
Q. There are media reports to say that the Cabinet of the Government-elect will be limited to a maximum of 30 seats. And SLFP is to receive only three Cabinet ministries. Is this true?
A: That is what the media says. But it has to be decided by the Party leaders of the government. We believe that such a meeting will be called and then things will be sorted out. Therefore, we cannot comment on that.
Q. Wasn’t there any pre-agreement between party leaders about the Cabinet composition?
A: No, there was not. We only wanted to secure a two-thirds majority. We were all dedicated to that and no one bothered about deciding the Cabinet.
Q. Is there any pre-agreement on the role of former President Maithripala Sirisena, the leader of the SLFP in the next Parliament? Is it true that he will be the next Speaker?
A: No, We have not discussed it either. We have to decide all these things at the Party leaders meeting of the Government.
Q. But there could be certain demands from the SLFP?
A: No, we do not have such demands. We can discuss matters and come to agreements.
Q. You were a UNP member of Parliament some time ago. What is your view on the fate of the UNP in this election?
A: The leadership if the UNP has taken the party to its very end. We have discussed these matters a long time ago. I think Ranil Wickremesinghe and Sajith Premadasa both should be responsible for the current fate of the UNP.