ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Provincial Governor A J M Muzammil resigned his post as the representative of the country’s President and pledged his support to opposition leader Sajith Premadasa hours after he met the Indian High Commissioner, sources said.
His resignation and backing to Premadasa come 16 days ahead of the presidential poll scheduled for September 21. Analysts see no presidential candidate winning 50 percent in the poll.
Muzammil was appointed as the Governor of the Uva province in August 2020 by the previous Sri Lankan leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The 75-year old former Mayor of lucrative Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) in the country’s capital continued as the governor under the current President Ranil Wickremesinghe after Rajapaksa fled the country and resigned in July 2022 amid mass protests and economic crisis.
“I hereby record my disappointment in certain Governors who have been vociferously campaigning for various Presidential Candidates whilst holding the office of Governor,” Muzammil said in his resignation letter to President Wickremesinghe.
“I wish to inform Your Excellency that, after my resignation, I intend to support Presidential Candidate Hon. Sajith Premadasa.”
MEETING WITH INDIAN ENVOY
Before his resignation, he met Santosh Jha, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka at India House, the official residence of the Indian High Commissioner.
“The meeting was facilitated at the request of the Governor,” an Indian High Commission official told EconomyNext.
“It is one of the regular meetings on political dialogue and bilateral relations,” the official said, adding that India has nothing to do with Muzammil’s resignation and his pledge to back Premadasa.
Muzammil has switched his political alliance in the past to cross ruling parties befor being appointed to plum posts.
The latest backing by Muzammil for opposition leader Premadasa comes four days after Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) decided to support him at the upcoming Presidential Election.
The ITAK’s decision came after its meeting with India’a National Security Advisor Ajit Doval last week.
The Sunday Times, a local weekly, reported that Doval during the meeting has said that the Tamil legislators should not “waste the votes of the Tamil people” and try to negotiate with a candidate who could win and secure the aspirations of the Tamil people through talks.
India has not openly pledged its support to any presidential candidates. Doval during his visit met top four candidates: President Wickremesinghe, Premadasa, Marxists Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son, Namal.
India had been long negotiating for some renewable power plants, land connectivity, port deals, and energy pipe connectivity with Sri Lanka, but many of them have yet to be signed under Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe.
India has also raised concerns over Chinese vessels being allowed to do research in the sea bed citing security issues for the Indian Ocean region. (Colombo/September 05/2024)