National lists spring surprises

UPFA drops WJM,Wishwa, Anuruddha, UNP drops Rukman, Choksy

The national list nominations to Parliament of the ruling UPFA, the main opposition UNP, the JVP led Democratic National Alliance and the TNA were announced yesterday which included a number of new faces while leaving out several prominent personalities.

From the UNP the omission of the names of party’s Assistant leader Rukman Senanayake and longstanding MP and constitutional lawyer K.N. Choksy came as a surprise.  Former Minister Tilak Marapone too had failed to make it to parliament from the UNP national list.

From the UPFA national list the surprise omissions were former Speaker W.J.M.Lokubandara and former Higher Education Minister Prof. Wishwa Warnapala.   Some of the other notable names that have been left out from the final UPFA National List are: M.H.Mohammed, Ven. Omalpe Sobhitha thera, Anurudha Ratawatte, Lesley Devendra, C. Shanmuganathan, Dr. Harischandra Wijetunga and Presidential Candidate Sarath Kongahage.

The new faces in Parliament from the UPFA National List include popular actress Malani Fonseka, Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, Kamala Ranatunga, J.R.P.Suriyapperuma and Janaka Bandara Priyantha.  Former Parliamentarian A.H.M.Azwer has also been named in the UPFA National list.

The main opposition UNP yesterday finalized its national list members after much debate among the minority parties in the UNF alliance.

However the members who were finally nominated were Party General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, Joseph Michael Perera, Eran Wikramaratne, Dr. Harsha De Silva, D. M. Swaminathan, R. Yogarajan, Anoma Gamage, Hassan Ali and Aslam Mohamed Salim.

Only three out of the nine members were former MPs while others were all new comers. Former Members were General Secretary Mr. Attanayake, Former Chief Opposition Whip Joseph Michael Perera and SLMC General Secretary Hassan Ali.

Among the new comers are UNP treasurer D. M. Swarminathan, Dr. Harsha De Silva and Eran Wikramaratne and Anoma Gamage the wife of UNP’s Digamadulla Organizer Daya Gamage.

Another distinct feature was the inclusion of SLMC member Aslam Mohamed Salim who failed to get elected contesting from the Kalutara District. Denial of a slot to SLFP (M) led by Mangala Samaraweera who was also expected to get one was also a surprising omission.

The party ran into trouble when selecting its national list members with several minority parties who contested from the UNF ticket protesting against the party’s move not to give them slots.

National Union of Workers Leader V. Digambaram who was elected to Parliament is among those who had protested and reportedly charged that the UNP had let them down badly as the party promised a national list slot but had gone back on its word.

The Democratic People’s Front (DPF) also expressed its dissatisfaction about the UNF’s decision not to allocate a national list slot. DPF leader Mano Ganesan or General Secretary Dr. N. Kumaraguruparan was tipped to be nominated on the national list. DPF member elect Parabha Ganesan stated that the party will be compelled to react if the understanding between the UNP and DPF is breached.

The JVP led Democratic National Alliance had nominated Anura Kumara Dissnayake and businessman Tiran Alles to its two national list slots while the TNA has nominated senior lawyer M.A. Sumanthiran to its single national list position.

(By Sandun A. Jayasekera and Yohan Perera)