Archives

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

The dissident members of the SLMC on Thursday said that Subairdeen Hadjiar remains the new Leader of the SLMC.

SLMC General Secretary Dr. A.L.M. Hafrath told a press conference at Hotel Galadari yesterday that they went to court to obtain a restraining order against former Leader Rauff Hakeem. Now the court has only removed that restraining order. This is the only change that has taken place.

"Our position is that Subairdeen remains the Leader of the SLMC and he can function as the Leader. The election of Subairdeen as the Leader of the SLMC by a majority of members at the High Command meeting is legally valid. There is no question about that," he said.

Hafrath said the High Command comprises 21 members. When the decision was taken to elect Subairdeen as the Leader, we had 11 members and now it has increased to 15. "We will go for a permanent injunction against Hakeem in due course. The final removal of this restraining order will be made on December 13 after an inquiry. That inquiry has not yet taken place. The Court has only lifted the restraining order and the final decision will be made on December 13," he said.

Subairdeen said: " We went to court to obtain this restraining order against Hakeem. This order was removed yesterday to be taken up on December 13. I am still the new Leader of the SLMC."

Subairdeen said the High Command is the decision making body of the SLMC. This decision taken by the majority of members has been accepted by the Elections Commissioner too. "So I do not understand how it can be a conspiracy. It is open discussion. In addition, to have a legal meeting, the signature of the SLMC Secretary is essential. Therefore a legal meeting can only be held by us."

Asked if there could be a split of the SLMC, Subairdeen said if the real situation is understood, the party will not split.

Subairdeen said if the North-East is permanently merged, their reasonable demand is an independent political unit for the Muslims comprising the main areas where Muslim constitutes majority.

SLMC Chairman A.L.M. Athaulla said that they will discuss with the President and the Prime Minister and introduce their new leader to political figures.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager