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'As long as you don't campaign against us' - UPFA bids farewell to SLMC

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), the island’s main Muslim party said it will be contesting independently at the eastern provincial councils.

The announcement comes as a U-turn, only a few days after the SLMC had declared it would be running under the UPFA banner - the ruling coalition.

“We have failed to get the necessary agreements that we sought with the government, so we have decided to contest on our own”, a Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) source told the Hindu on condition of anonymity.

SLFP sources have said that they are still confident that the government would win the council without the support of the SLMC.

Meanwhile there are conflicting reports on whether this sudden farewell had the president's consent or not.

The Island reports that the President imparted his blessings in a private meeting to his Justice Minister, Rauf Hakeem.

The President said,

"The SLMC is a constituent member of the UPFA and as long as you do not campaign against us, it’s okay if you contest independently. But remember that we are trying to win the province as an alliance"

The claim has been refuted by the president's spokesperson, Bandula Jayasekara, on the social media site Twitter. Early on Thursday morning, Jayasekara tweeted, "Sri Lanka Muslim Congress did not get the blessings of President Mahinda Rajapaksa before going alone for Eastern Province polls"

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