He was responding to questions raised by journalists in Colombo yesterday (19) regarding the crisis in the SLFP.

Now aged 70 years, Rajapaksa did not elaborate on who the aged members in the party were.

He also said the people wanted the formation of a new party, while he looked on.

Claiming that it was him who had strengthened the SLFP, Rajapaksa said his successor Maithripala Sirisena, not him, had broken away from the party.

Chandrika’s response

Meanwhile, former president Chandrika Kumaratunga told a rally in Gampaha that a group was waiting to ruin the party.

This is not the first time the SLFP faced a crisis, she said, adding that Rajapaksa once tried to expel her mother, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, from the party and break it into two.

What the SLFP is facing today is a situation common to all parties at most times, but the party is indestructible, she added.