National People’s Power (NPP) General Secretary, Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe, has denied that the ruling party is divided over the successor of National List MP, Prof. Harshana Suriyapperuma, who resigned on 20 June, to receive appointment as Secretary to the Treasury.
National List MP Abeysinghe said so responding to The Island query whether the NPP had been unable to reach consensus. Abeysinghe emphasised that unlike other parties, the NPP hadn’t been affected by such issues. “We’ll make the appointment at the appropriate time,” he said.
Suriyapperuma succeeded Mahinda Siriwardena who retired, following a three-year stint as the Treasury Chief.
The NPP won 18 out of 29 National List slots at the last parliamentary polls. The main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) secured five, the New Democratic Front two, and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi, Sarvajana Balaya and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress receiving one each. Parliament consists of 196 elected and 29 appointed members.
Asked whether Prof. Suriyapperuma’s successor would be definitely chosen from their list of National List nominees submitted to the Election Commission last year, Dr. Abeysinghe said that discussions were underway.
Political sources said that two defeated candidates attorney-at-law Upul Kariyapperuma (Matara) and Wimal Katepeaarachchi (Colombo) as well as attorney-at-law LSSP senior Lal Wijenayake had been mentioned as the likely candidates. However, some sources asserted that as Prof. Suriyapperuma served as Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning his successor should be a person with an economic background. Wijenayake is among the NPP National List nominees though not picked last year when the appointments were made.
NPP sources said that the party should do what is required to strengthen the government though the public may not always agree with its decisions. The final decision lies with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake who is the leader of the NPP as well as the JVP, both registered political parties. In spite of the JVP being the major party in the NPP, the 159-member parliamentary group is recognized as NPP.
By Shamindra Ferdinando 
