On President Rajapaksa’s directive:

No more SLFP electoral organizers

*Only district heads in future

*Move aimed at ending preference war

President Mahinda Rajapaksa directed SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena yesterday to abolish the party’s electorate organizer posts and create district party organizer posts and requested all party organizers to work as a team in each district, the SLFP headquarters said.

President Rajapaksa said all party district leaders and organizers should work as a team with team spirit to come to the fore and immediately stop competition among one another to gain preference votes.

A new political culture and a group of party people who were first and foremost people oriented were needed by the country.

In the existing party and preference vote systems it was no secret that organizers of the same political party were engaged in a fight for preference votes, he said.

This system had created unhappy thoughts and feelings in the minds of the public at large. It was a strong barrier to democratic-socialism. Therefore the district organizer system could do away with this weakness, the President observed.

It was the SLFP’s objective to achieve victory in all the districts by activating the district organizer system with all organizers collectively working with the public during the election campaigns, party sources also said.

In the present electoral system the intense competition and even fighting to gain a bigger number of preference votes not only puts the organizers of the same party at loggerheads but also makes candidates put out a large number of posters, banners or hoardings. These publicity campaigns also result in more division among the same party, the President explained to the party General Secretary, SLFP headquarters sources also said. (WN)