Mangala says will continue to be a member of SLFP

Uditha Kumarasinghe, Rajmi Manatunga and Irangika Range

KOTTE: Member of Parliament Mangala Samaraweera yesterday said he will continue to be a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and act according to its policies despite crossing over to the Opposition on Tuesday.

Making a special statement in Parliament, Samaraweera said though in the Opposition he will not hesitate to support any proposal in line with the Rata Perata programme for which the Government received its mandate or to oppose any proposal contravening it.

“It was a very painful moment for me to leave the Government which we formed, and sit in the Opposition. But I know that the pain experienced by me is shared by SLFP supporters.It was to provide a voice for them that we decided to crossover to the Opposition. But, I will always remain a SLFPer and act accordingly even within the Opposition”, he said.

He also accused the Government of turning its back on the true policies of the SLFP which are social justice and democracy.

“In establishing the SLFP in 1951, what the late Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike said was that it should be a socialist and democratic party which rejects arbitrary rule by one person or a group. But, after 50 years these policies are being violated by the present Government,” he said.

Samaraweera said the Government is unable to address the rising cost of living while the Samurdhi subsidy has been cut off.

“By refusing to offer any political solution to the conflict and following an extremist policy the Government has pushed the innocent Tamil people to the claws of the LTTE.

The only check on this arbitrary system today is the Supreme Court and the judiciary,” he said.

He stated that steps will soon be taken to form a broad political alliance with the objective of bringing the SLFP to the correct path.