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PM cannot betray SLFP policies: Anura
By Ashoka Jayatunga
Foreign Minister Anura Bandaranaike says Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse is a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and he must adhere to the policies of the party instead of those of other parties.

“There are conflicting views coming out during our campaign for the upcoming presidential election and everyone is aware of this. My views are the views of the SLFP. Mahinda’s views too invariably have to be the same. He is an SLFP member and an SLFP MP,” Mr.Bandaranaike said in an interview with our sister paper Sunday Lankadeepa.

Mr. Bandaranaike, who is also the SLFP’s Prime Ministerial candidate but had not spoken at any campaign rally till yesterday, said Mr. Rajpakse was nominated by the party’s central committee and he had later linked up with the JHU, the JVP and other parties.

He charged that he had been kept in the dark about the two agreements.
“Mahinda called me around 9 that morning (the day the agreement was signed between Mr. Rajapakse and the JVP) and asked me to come to Temple Trees at 10 a.m. I went with Dinesh Gunawardena. I did not know till then that he was to sign a pact with the JVP even though I am the Senior Vice President of the SLFP and its Prime Ministerial candidate,” he said.

As for the pact with the JHU, Mr. Bandaranake said he was unaware of it as well and neither did he want to know of it. He was out of the country when the pact was signed.

Mr. Bandaranaike said whoever had alliances with the SLFP, priority would be given to SLFP policies. “They can keep their polices to themselves. We cannot allow them to impose their ideas wholesale on the country and people and disrupt everything. Running a country is not as easy as shouting hoarse from an election platform,” he added.

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