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| Tuesday, 18 May 2004 |
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Politics | |
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| UNP tug o'war in Kandy by Pradeep Kumara Dharmaratne United National Party stalwarts in the Central Province have opposed Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe's decision to nominate Party General Secretary Senarath Kapukotuwa as the party's Chief Ministerial Candidate for the forthcoming Central Provincial Council elections. Already several former UNP Ministers who represented the Central Province have expressed displeasure about the nomination of Kapukotuwa for this post. Former Ministers Alick Aluvihare, S. B. Dissanayake, Tissa Attanayake and Keheliya Rambukwella have teamed up to work against Kapukotuwa in the Central Province if he is contesting as the Chief Ministerial Candidate. Several party seniors are reported to have pointed out to Wickremesinghe that when former Ministers had proposed the names of their sons and relatives as the Chief Minister nominee, the appointment of Kapukotuwa would further aggravate divisions within the party. Matale district MP and former Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Alick Aluvihare had requested the Party leadership a long time ago to nominate former Chief Minister Vasantha Aluvihare as the Chief Ministerial Candidate this time too. He has said Vasantha should be given priority because some party insiders were trying to undercut him. Meanwhile, Nuwara Eliya district MP and former MP S. B. Dissanayake who has now become a central figure in the UNP, has asked the Party leadership to name his brother Saliya Bandara Dissanayake as the Chief Ministerial Candidate. Saliya Bandara Dissanayake who is a former Provincial Minister has teamed up with the plantation community to pressurise the party leadership through S. B. Dissanayake that he be nominated as the Chief Ministerial Candidate. Kandy district MP and former Minister Keheliya Rambukuwella in the meantime had proposed the name of former MP Shrimathie Manthilaka as the Chief Ministerial Candidate. These rival claims have placed the UNP leadership in a pickle making it impossible to select a strong candidate who can gain the unstinted support of all sections to contest the Central Provincial Council election as the party's Chief Ministerial Candidate. |
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