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At the Executive Committee Meeting of the United National Party held at Sirikotha last Monday (Aug.04) it was decided to suspend forthwith the membership of five Southern Provincial Council members who made unauthorized tours to India at a time when inquiries are proceeding in respect of five other members of the same Council for the same offence.

Lal Chandra, Baby Weerasinghe, Siri Wijayawickrema, Kapila Wellappuli and Piyadasa Abeywickrema are the Southern Provincial Councillors who were so suspended at the meeting held on the 4th.

At this meeting the subject of maintaining party discipline was discussed at length and attention was paid to formulate procedures to deal with false complaints and steps concerning membership of those against whom charges are pending.The Party Secretary has already consulted the views of other political parties in this connection. At present the party members who are accused of charges such as murder and misuse of public property are interdicted from membership.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe drew the attention of the meeting to the news of an attempt to procure fire arms for a politician in the Gampaha District and stated that the unverified disclosure of information to the media and the unverified publication of such information have disrupted the investigation process. Premier said that he has discussed this issue with the Inspector General of Police too.

It was stressed that the media has a duty to be more responsible about the credibility of their news as the Press Council is not functioning at the moment the Premier further stated that he hoped to discuss with media chiefs and newspaper editors the subjects of the right of free access to information and the procedure relating to verification of information published in the media.

The Executive Committee decided to discuss with the allied parties the nomination of candidates for the forthcoming Provincial Council Elections and to publish in newspapers the nominations of the UNF.

Minister Thilak Marapana, speaking on the MoU between the Government and SriLankan Air Lines stated that the entire process pertaining to the MoU went through under his supervision and that the issue was discussed twice in the Economic Policy Committee chaired by the Prime Minister.He observed that the Attorney General will be further consulted on this issue and that the MoU is only a renewal of the old agreement containing amendments more beneficial to the country.

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