He was speaking at the party’s Nuwara Eliya district meeting yesterday (21).

Kumaratunga developed the country while waging a war, while Rajapaksa ended the war and also took the country to development, he said.

He asked party supporters not to allow any outsider to dictate terms to them, alleging that some were trying to break up the SLFP to gain political mileage.

There is no need either to remove or sideline anyone in the party, he said.

One leader for a country

The president went onto say that a country should have only one leader, around whom all the others rally.

He said that he was committed to transform the country in accordance with the aspirations of the people.

SLFP general secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, national organizer Susil Premajayantha, S.B. Dissanayake and many others participated.