A group of electoral organizers and 10 senior Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MPs have privately urged party leader – Sajith Premadasa to replace long-serving senior officials and leaders, arguing that fresh, dynamic individuals are needed to regain public support after 06 consecutive election defeats.
The group, meeting Premadasa recently, had insisted it was unfair to place blame solely on electoral organizers when the party had lost 02 Presidential Polls, 03 General Elections, and the local government election in succession.
They warned that unless the party’s top office bearers are restructured immediately, future electoral chances would be equally bleak.
Their strong appeal comes in the wake of preparations to remove several electoral organizers, citing accountability for the string of losses.
The MPs and organizers countered that the SJB had a better chance of winning more seats at the General if the Presidential election had been won, which could have been possible if they had entered a broader coalition with the UNP and other political groups.
They had also argued that Sajith Premadasa missed a crucial opportunity to strengthen his reputation when Gotabaya Rajapaksa first offered to hand over power during the 2022 crisis.
They claimed that certain economic advisors in the party discouraged him from taking on that responsibility, allowing President Ranil Wickremesinghe to build his own voter base by stepping up to the situation instead.
The group stressed that to reverse the party’s fortunes, long-standing leaders and officials must now step aside for new, energetic, youth representatives with innovative ideas.
(Source: Lankadeepa)