[The Eye] Rajitha & John meet President to strike secret deal

Two senior UNP Parliamentarians openly campaigning for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe – namely Rajitha Senaratne and John Amaratunga have attempted to strike a secret deal with President Maithripala Sirisena to form a fresh national government, without Wickremesinghe.

The new national government is ‘Plan B’ of Sirisena’s operation as he has failed to secure a majority in Parliament to support Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Prime Ministerial bid.

Sirisena’s ‘Plan B’ is to form a new national government with the SLFP, a section of the Joint Opposition and a UNP minus Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Senaratne and Amaratunga had met Sirisena yesterday to discuss the new arrangement.

Dinesh Weerakkody, the son-in-law of Amaratunga and a close associate of Senaratne, had facilitated the discussion.

As a measure to break the current political deadlock, they had discussed the possibility of forming a new national government, with the SLFP, the UNP and the Joint Opposition sharing an equal quota (10) of Cabinet portfolios.

Sources familiar with the matter said Sirisena had even agreed to appoint any senior UNPer – except for party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe – as the Prime Minister of the new national government.

Sirisena had informed the two UNP seniors that even Sajith Premadasa, the Deputy Leader of the UNP, was an “option” for the premiership.