Ranil says nomination of Ravi to Parliament was unauthorized

The National Democratic Front (NDF) party secretary has unilaterally nominated  Ravi Karunanayake for the coalition's national list parliamentary seat this morning (18), former President Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

This is despite a scheduled meeting in Colombo today to collectively decide on the two national list seats allocated to the coalition.

The  former President  informed representatives of the coalition that the nomination of Mr  Karunanayake for the NDF's national list parliamentary seat was carried out unilaterally, without the consent of any of the coalition parties.

He stated that all parties within the NDF were scheduled to meet this morning (18) in Colombo to collectively decide on the two national list parliamentary seats allocated to the coalition. The party secretary’s independent action, taken prior to this meeting, was therefore unauthorized, he added.

Ravi Karunanayake is a member of the United National Party (UNP), and according to Mr. Wickremesinghe, no decision can be made without collective agreement. He further emphasized that acting unilaterally in this manner, especially when all coalition representatives were set to meet formally to decide on the matter, is unacceptable.

The former President reiterated that a proper decision regarding the two national list seats should be made through a consensus of all coalition parties and criticized the secretary’s unilateral actions.

Mr. Saman Rathnapriya earlier said that the NDF planned to convene at 3:00 p.m. on Monday (18) to discuss the two national list parliamentary seats allocated to the coalition.

He described the meeting as a preliminary discussion, noting that a final decision might only be reached after a subsequent session.

Mr. Rathnapriya also noted that Mr. Wickremesinghe was not interested in accepting a seat. However, he added that if the party decided otherwise, it might influence Mr. Wickremesinghe’s position, re-considering his earlier decision to step away from the party .

Furthermore, Mr. Rathnapriya emphasized that in the event of any emergency situation, Mr. Wickremesinghe would not hesitate to take responsibility for the country.