UPFA MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena today said that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has been sold off to the United National Party (UNP) and that only former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has the right to get the party back.

Addressing a “Joint Opposition” press briefing in Colombo, he said that UNP governments have always been skilled at “selling” things in the country; be it state institutions or the war. 

He, however, said that the government properties which were sold by the UNP were brought back by Mahinda Rajapaksa.

“But now the SLFP has already been sold to the UNP. No other person apart from Mahinda Rajapaksa has the right to get back the SLFP which was sold to the UNP,” the former minister said.

Abeygunawardena also spoke regarding the removal of several prominent members of the SLFP including himself from their electoral organizer posts.

Although we are sacked from SLFP posts, we cannot be sacked from the hearts of the people, he said.

He also accused the Yahapalanaya (good governance) government, which before coming to power vowed to not even use stamp-sizes banners for publicity, is now using paid advertisements to publicize the national government’s one year anniversary.

MP Pavithra Wanniarachchi, who also spoke to reporters, said that she had never criticized either the party or the party leadership and that she was removed from the SLFP organizer post due to the sole fact that they were against the UNP government. 

If the UNP thinks that we can be discouraged by such childish decisions, it will never happen, she said.

She stated that even if cannons are aimed at their faces and threatened to fire, they are willing to sacrifice their lives to form a “real SLFP government”.