The Buddhist monk organisation, the United Bhikku Front (UBF), issued a stern warning to the UNP's Sajith Premadasa to stop acting against the party's newly appointed Leadership Council or else face 'stern action', reported Colombo Page.
Speaking at the UBF press conference today, the organisation's General Secretary, the monk, Bopitiye Dhammissara Thero, warned Premadasa to refrain from acting against party unity.
The Leadership Council was set up under the patronage of Buddhist monks, to save Sri Lanka's faltering opposition party from collapse. The party has struggled to compete for support from the Sinhala electorate since the ruling SLFP, led by the President Mahinda Rajapaksa, militarily defeated the LTTE and regained full control of the traditional Tamil homeland of the North-East.
Pointing out that a Leadership Council position was still open to Sajith Premadasa, Dhammissara warned that he was the individual who was inflicting the most damage on the party.
Sajith Premadasa withdrew his membership of the Council last month after Karu Jayasuriya was appointed as chair of the nine-member committee.
Last month, the reports emerged that the UNP was forced to apologise to another Buddhist monk party, the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) - a claim which the UNP's leader Ranil Wickramasinghe took pains to deny by stating that no "official pardon" was sought.
The influence, political clout and power of the Buddhist clergy has long transcended party lines. See Power behind the throne (08 May 2012).
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