Maharoof to vote against Milinda No Faith Motion
says more UNPers would follow suit:
Colombo District UNP Parliamentarian Mohammed Maharoof has threatened
to vote against the Mangala-Sripathy sponsored No Confidence Motion
against Minister Milinda Moragoda saying such a Motion was ill-advised
and that there were other UNP MPs who would boycott the vote.
In a letter addressed to UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe Maharoof
also called into question the role of Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathy
Sooriyaarachi recalling their statement that it was they who were
responsible for his (Wickremesinghe’s) defeat at the Presidential
elections at the MOU ceremony of the National Council.
The letter to Wickremesinghe states:
“I was amazed by reading an article in today’s newspaper which was
given a lot of prominence in all the national newspapers with regard to
former Ministers and UPFA parliamentarians Mangala Samaraweera and
Sripathy Sooriyarachchi moving a No Confidence Motion against Milinda
Moragoda.
In my opinion, this very Samaraweera and Sooriyaarachi are
responsible for the state the country is in today as it was very clearly
mentioned by them on forming the National Council that it was they who
were responsible for the defeat of the UNP at the last Presidential
Elections.
This duo who failed to fulfil their personal agendas in their own
party have now joined the UNP to achieve their objectives, the most
recent being their No Confidence motion against Moragoda who had been an
immense asset to our party.
Permitting them to proceed with this No Confidence Motion will be
tantamount to betraying the trust placed by 4.7 million voters towards
the UNP at the last Presidential Election.
Moreover it has been proved by the CID that Samaraweera is
responsible for forcefully obtaining Rs. 12 million from Lafarge Cement
which cheques have been cashed by his Private Secretary who also happens
to be a relative of his. This action of his affected me as my wife is a
shareholder and such payments have to be borne by the shareholders of
this company.
The challenge before this duo should be to bring in more SLFPers to
support the UNP prior to the budget and also fulfil the conditions that
they promised on signing the MOU to work towards bringing the UNP to
Power on the basis of Samaraweera being offered a Deputy Prime Minister
slot in a UNP led Government.
Though I have decided to voice my opinion in this communication there
are many other UNPers who are silent but think alike. I have always
respected the leadership and stood by the leader. Let me also remind you
that when the others crossed over I personally made a commitment on the
phone to the effect that I would stand by you and the party.
I sincerely hope that we will not be requested to back the proposed
No Confidence Motion against Milinda Moragoda since many will not be
supportive of such a move.
Instead of creating more damage to our party by accommodating these
two persons who in my opinion do not have much political value compared
to the 17 who have left us, it would be better to bring back those 17 to
build back party unity and strength so that we could be in a strong
position to win a future election.
It may also be better idea to offer the deputy premiership to a
person who has contributed much to the party or consider personalities
such as Rukman Senanayake and Sajith Premadasa whose parents have
contribute much of their lifetime to the UNP.
In finality if the said No Confidence Motion is taken up. I will be
compelled to vote against such a motion for the reason being that
Moragoda has been a personal friend and not encouraged political
mudslinging on any individual whereas in my opinion. Mangala
Samaraweera’s credentials are questionable.” |