Sri Lanka ex-president Rajapaksa to step down as Freedom Party boss
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Sri Lanka’s former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa has agreed to step down as head of his party, clearing the way for the country’s new president to take full control, an aide said on Thursday.
President Maithripala Sirisena had been the general secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), but was kicked out of the party ahead of elections after he broke from Rajapaksa in November to become the common opposition candidate.
Sirisena, who toppled strongman Rajapaksa after he was in power for 10 years in last week’s polls, claimed the party leadership following the vote but Rajapaksa’s loyalists initially refused to back him, threatening to split the party.
“He (Rajapaksa) met with President Sirisena on Wednesday night and discussed the future of the SLFP,” the aide told reporters.
“It was decided that at a [policy making] central committee meeting on Friday, Mr Sirisena will be confirmed as the new leader of the party.”
Sirisena’s election bid was backed by a coalition of opposition parties after he defected from the Rajapaksa government while serving as health minister to run for president.
Party sources said his expulsion from the SLFP, however, had never been ratified.
Sources close to the new government said Sirisena was trying to forge a national unity administration before calling fresh parliamentary elections by the end of April.
The government has lodged a formal complaint with the police Criminal Investigations Department into allegations Rajapaksa tried to use military force to remain in power after losing last week’s election.
The former president, who has denied the claim, also faces accusations of misuse of public funds and nepotism.
Rajapaksa’s family stands accused of amassing huge wealth during his rule.
Police say they are investigating the disappearance of a fleet of luxury presidential cars as he vacated his official residence.
The new president has also replaced an ex-military with a civilian governor in the Tamil-controlled north.
The provincial administration of the Northern Province has long accused the outgoing governor, retired Major General GA Chandrasiri, of preventing them from functioning freely and running a parallel local government.
