Agriculture Minister K.D. Lal Kantha has said he does not intend to contest the next parliamentary election from the Kandy District, while maintaining that the National People’s Power (NPP) government will remain in power.
Speaking to the media, the minister was responding to questions about recent remarks by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who said he had not assumed office intending to remain in power indefinitely and was prepared to take political risks even if they cost him his position.
Lal Kantha said there was no contradiction between the President’s remarks and his own assertion that the government would continue in office. The continuation of a political movement or government and the continuation of an individual in office were two separate matters, he said.
His decision not to contest another parliamentary election from Kandy should therefore not be interpreted as an indication that the NPP government would lose power, he added.
The President’s comments about being willing to risk his position have drawn comment from across the political spectrum this week, as the government prepares to table the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution in Parliament.
