Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena walks out of Cabinet meeting
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena stormed out of a Cabinet meeting on Monday over personal attacks by some members of his unity government’s dominant partner UNP, media reports said today.
However, the government spokesman and Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said that Sirisena was only answering a call of nature when he walked out of the Cabinet meeting and was not piqued by the action of some UNP members.
According to local media reports, Sirisena walked out of the Cabinet meeting over "personal attacks" against him by some UNP parliamentarians and said that it was not possible for him to stay anymore in the unity government.
UNP MP from Colombo, S M Marikkar, had recently called the president a "pickpocket" who is robbing the UNP of its dues when actually Sirisena should be grateful to the UNP for getting him elected as president.
The UNP backbencher in an election campaign rally had targeted Sirisena saying he was trying to politically harm the UNP in the run up to the February 10 local election by alleging that UNP was a corrupt party.
Sirisena in a 30-minute address which he recorded himself at the Cabinet had said that the UNPers were attacking him due to his action to curb corruption in government.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and several other ministers had gone after Sirisena to convince him to return to the Cabinet meeting.
The UNPers claim that Sirisena loyalists in the government were publicly attacking Wickremesinghe and the president had done nothing to stop them.
The internal differences between the coalition partners who were arch rivals have surfaced ahead of the February 10 local council election.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe instructed UNP Ministers and MPs not to make controversial statements dragging Sirisena anymore.
Party sources said the prime minister had also informed the UNP MPs and ministers to take on the SLFP Ministers directly and settle whatever issues which they may have with the other main ally of the Government.
Marikar told the prime minister that his statement with regard to president was misinterpreted or misreported.