DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST MR?

30 SLFP MPs found guilty of violating Party discipline:

Disciplinary Committee given full authority to take action:

MPs making statements on dividing SLFP to be investigated:

by Rasika Jayakody

The Disciplinary Committee of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) will initiate action against 30 MPs for violating party discipline.

The SLFP Central Committee, when it met on Friday, decided to delegate full authority to the Disciplinary Committee of the party to take action against MPs breaching party discipline, irrespective of their positions in the party.

“Internal discipline is important in a political party. At this point, my primary objective is to uphold Party Discipline,” President Maithripala Sirisena told senior members of the Central Committee on the sidelines of the Central Committee meeting on Friday evening.

“The Party now enjoys internal democracy. MPs or seniors could not express their views or opinions freely over the past 10 years. However, democracy should not be at the expense of party discipline” the President said.

Informed sources close to President Sirisena told the Sunday Observer that MPs who made statements about dividing the SLFP would be under investigation by the Disciplinary Committee.

“There is strong speculation that disciplinary action will be initiated against former President Mahinda Rajapaksa too,” a senior parliamentarian who is also a Central Committee member told the Sunday Observer.

After inquiries, the Disciplinary Committee will forward its findings to the Central Committee, the apex decision-making body of the party, to decide its course of action on ‘errant’ MPs.

Minister Sarath Amunugama told a press conference on Friday that eleven SLFP MPs supporting the ‘joint opposition’ would not join the pro-Rajapaksa party.

Amunugama, an ally of President Sirisena, said they had informed the party of their decision. The SLFP Central Committee has also decided not to endorse any request of members to act as an independent group in Parliament. It was a slap in the face for the joint opposition formed by the UPFA dissidents.