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By Chandani Kirinde  

With elections in the air, the season of crossovers is also in full swing, but many have chosen to switch sides outside parliament, but on Wednesday Matara District Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) parliamentarian Karunadasa Kodithuwakku announced he was supporting Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa at the upcoming election and walked across the Well of the House and took a seat on the opposition side.

Before he crossed over, senior SJB member and Ratnapura district parliamentarian Talata Athukorala announced that she was resigning from parliament. In a lengthy address to parliament before quitting her seat, she pleaded for unity between the SJB leader and President Ranil Wickremesinghe and urged them to join hands and revive the Grand Old Party—the United National Party (UNP). But Ms. Athukorala fell short of saying if she was extending her support to any other presidential candidate.

She took the floor soon after Mr. Premadasa, who is also the Leader of the Opposition, had spoken on several issues of public importance, including salary alimonies of police personnel as well as members of the armed forces and problems faced by ginger and onion farmers.

His long-drawn-out line of raising questions in the House, more the rule than the expectation, only delayed Ms. Athukorala’s speech, which no doubt came as a blow to Mr. Premadasa.

Ms. Athukorala began her speech by paying tribute to her late brother Gamini Athukorala, the then Assistant Leader of the UNP, whose sudden demise in 2022 thrust her into active politics.

“The blood that flows in my body is the same blood of my brother Gamini Athukorala, who did the utmost for the victory of the UNP. Even under the most trying circumstances, my brother was someone who was committed to bringing his party to power. He never left his party for personal gain,” an emotional Ms. Athukorala said.

She said her main disillusionment sprang from seeing the fall of the once-dominant party, the UNP, and the split that had led to its leader, the incumbent president, and its former deputy leader, Sajith Premadasa, contesting as separate candidates.

She said she was among those who supported Mr. Premadasa when he left the UNP and formed the SJB but said now it was time for them to come together to revive the UNP.

“I did not want a split in the party. I have been troubled thinking of how my decision may have contributed to the decline of our once-dominant party. If we are to win this presidential election, we have to come together,” she implored.

Ms. Athukorala added that the National People Power (NPP), which got only three percent of the votes in the 2019 and 2020 elections, had grown to be a formidable political force while the once-dominant UNP was split in two.

“If we lose this time because of our divisions, it will be political suicide for all of us. We need to understand this bitter truth,” she added.

Former Sports Minister and Polonnaruwa District MP Roshan Ranasinghe, one of the four presidential candidates in the present parliament, also spoke in Parliament and made a strong case for ending the executive presidency.

“The majority of wrong decisions by the executive president have led to the deterioration of our country. This executive presidency, which is a burden on our country, must be abolished,” he said.

The Polonnaruwa District MP also spoke in length on the large amount of money being spent on election campaigns and said that votes were being bought using black money and other ill-gotten funds. “Due to corruption, we now live in a country today where the word politician is a dirty word,” he said.

Meanwhile, Matara District MP Kodithuwakku, who crossed over to the opposition, said that in 2019 and 20202, the voters had kept faith in the SLPP, but the leaders of the party had destroyed the hopes of millions of voters. ”SJB leader Sajith Premadasa has shown he has a clear vision for the country, and hence I have decided to extend my support to him at the presidential election,” he said.

Other business of parliament on Wednesday included passing several regulations under the Excise Ordinance and the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act.

Bandula Lal Bandarigoda also took oath as the new SJB MP for the Galle District before Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. He replaced Manusha Nanayakkara, who lost his parliamentary seat after the Supreme Court upheld the decision by the SJB to expel him from the party. The SJB is yet to name a replacement for Harin Fernando, whose National List seat fell vacant after he was also unseated by the SC ruling.

Meanwhile, another new MP is likely to take oaths in place of Ms. Atukorala when the House meets again on September 3, 2024.

Karunarathna Paranawithana, who contested from the Ratnapura District on the SJB ticket in the 2020 parliamentary elections, will fill the vacancy.