The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), a coalition partner of the government, is on the verge of a split in the North, an electorate through which it won a seat in the General Election after one of its Pradeshya Sabha members is pushing to register a new political party, the Daily Mirror learns.
According to sources from the Elections Commission, one of the Pradeshya Sabha members from Jaffna representing the SLFP, has put in an application to register a new party under the name ‘Ilankai Tamilar Sudanthira Munnani’.
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The member who has made the application is Sathasivam Ramanathan, father of SLFP MP Angajan Ramanathan who is also the private secretary to the MP. Sources said this application was made to register a new political party in the north, in 2020 but his application was rejected as the political party did not meet the necessary requirements.
This application, sources said has signaled a split in the SLFP lower ranks. After the party application was rejected last year, sources said S. Ramanathan has made an application to register the party again this year, in documents seen by the Daily Mirror, bypassing the protocol of having to wait for a minimum of two years, if a political party application is rejected by the Elections Commission.
READ: Registering of new political parties indicates rifts among major ones in Sri Lanka
The SLFP is already in shaky waters with the ruling party, the SLPP, after it said it would go its separate way at future elections rather than in alliance with the SLPP.
A party spokesman said the party had already appointed a five-member panel of top party officials to select suitable members as district and electoral organisers aimed at the Provincial Council polls expected to be held early next year. (Jamila Husain)
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