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| Wednesday, 19 May 2004 |
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Politics | |
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| SLMC's Bhaila joins Government, says more to follow : Rauff Hakeem loves UNP more and Muslims less by Ranil Wijayapala and Bharatha Malawaraarachchi Hussein A. Bhaila, SLMC member appointed on national list MP from the UNP who crossed the floor of the Parliament yesterday to sit in the Government ranks, declared that SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem was maintaining connections with the UNP based purely on his personal attachments disregarding party membership views and those of the Muslim community. He said more SLMC MPs were poised to join the Government in support of the peace process. Addressing the media shortly following his cross over, at the Parliament complex, Bhaila said Hakeem was working with the UNP to topple the UPFA Government and sabotage the peace process initiated by the President. The SLMC as a party representing the country's Muslim community should not be an appendage of one political party, he asserted. "It is very regrettable to note that personal attachments have been the criteria for the SLMC's relations with the UNP. We are deprived of the chance of serving the Muslim people, due to this situation," the MP lamented. "I fervently believe that the SLMC should give its support to the peace process of the Government as the UPFA Government has the mandate to go ahead with the peace process," Bhaila said. "As Minister Hakeem represented the peace talks as the Muslim nominee during the UNP regime, the SLMC can continue to support the peace process of this Government in the same manner," he said. Bhaila said more SLMC MPs were ready to join the Government and his decision to sit with the Government in Parliament was taken personally and not as a group. |
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