With immediate effect, Palitha Range Bandara has been dismissed from his role as the General Secretary of the United National Party (UNP) by leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, citing grave concerns.
The decision was made in response to allegations that Bandara had reportedly put pressure on the President to get his daughter hired at the Australian Embassy and had granted his son use of the official car allotted to him for his employment, which resulted in an accident. Bandara is also charged with selecting party delegates and officials in return for cash.
As per the UNP constitution, the General Secretary may be appointed or removed at any moment by the party leader. According to party insiders, Bandara hasn’t been showing up for work at the UNP headquarters in Sirikotha lately. Consequently, on the 28th, Wickremesinghe relieved other party officials of their election operations responsibilities, removing Bandara from his position.
Moreover, party sources claim that Bandara did not attend the recent event when the President’s policy declaration was unveiled.