Tussle over National List seat continues...

The squabble of the Our Power of People Party (OPPP) and the indecision of the United National Party (UNP) regarding its National List seats are yet to be drawn to an end.

A conflictual situation emerged as the OPPP’s General Secretary Venerable Wedinigama Wimalatissa Thero submitted a letter to the Election Commission claiming that he has been nominated to enter parliament as the party’s National List MP.

However, a group including the Chairman of the ‘Our Power of People Party (OPPP)’ have notified the commission that the said letter is not valid and that the central committee of the party decided to nominate party member Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero for the National List MP seat.

Meanwhile the General Secretary of the party Ven. Wedinigama Wimalatissa Thero, who is responsible for officially informing the Election Commission of the nominee chosen for the MP seat, has then suddenly disappeared and is believed to be in hiding.

The Attorney General on Friday (14) advised the Election Commission in terms of the legal advice sought with regard to the nominee of “Our Power of People Party” (OPPP) for its National List seat.

The Election Commission had sought the Attorney General’s advice on the matter following a dispute within the said party with regard to its National List seat in Parliament.

However, the Election Commission is yet to take a decision on the matter, one of its spokespeople said.

Accepting nominations for National List seats in the parliament ended yesterday (14). Accordingly, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB), Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) and Ahila Ilankai Thamil Congress (AITC) have submitted their list of nominees for the National List seats they have secured.

The Election Commission said steps will be taken to gazette the nomination submitted by OPPP after reaching a final decision in this regard.

In the meantime, the UNP is yet to decide on a nominee for the single National List seat it is entitled to in the parliament.

The future activities of the parliament are to continue with two vacant seats as the new parliament meets on the 20th of August.