Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is unlikely to break away from the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and form his own party, the New Indian Express reports.
Rajapaksa is unlikely to break away even though 40 of his key followers have been removed from district and electorate level posts by party Chairman and Sri Lankan President Mithripala Sirisena in an exceptionally strong purge earlier this week, it says.
Political circles here feel that Rajapaksa would want to remain in the SLFP and capture the entire party. And the reasons are as follows:
Firstly, past experience of breakaway parties has not been encouraging. Secondly, Rajapaksa has the greater right to consider himself a hardcore SLFPer than Sirisena because unlike the latter he had never left the party.
Sirisena had contested the January 8,2015 Sri Lankan Presidential election after breaking away from the SLFP and forming an alliance with the United National Party (UNP), the traditional rival of the SLFP. Furthermore, Sirisena formed a government with the UNP and made the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe the Prime Minister instead of appointing Rajapaksa who had majority support in parliament.
-NIE
-Agencies
