The Western Provincial Civil Appellate Court on Monday rejected a request by MP Dayasiri Jayasekara to be recognised as General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, leaving the party’s disputed leadership structure intact for now.
Jayasekara had earlier filed an action in the Colombo District Court seeking recognition as party secretary, together with an interim injunction to prevent Duminda Dissanayake from acting as General Secretary and Nimal Siripala de Silva from holding the post of Chairman, Newswire reported.
After the District Court rejected that initial request, Jayasekara appealed to the Western Provincial Civil Appellate Court seeking to overturn the decision and obtain the relief he had asked for.
When the appeal was taken up on September 28, the appellate court declined to issue the interim injunctions against Dissanayake and de Silva, and rejected the request for recognition.
What happens next
The preliminary hearing in the case has been fixed for January 8, 2027 — meaning the substantive dispute over who holds the secretaryship remains unresolved for at least another three months, with the incumbents continuing in post in the interim.
The ruling is procedural rather than final. It refuses interim relief and declines recognition at this stage; it does not determine the underlying question of the lawful officeholder, which the January hearing begins to address.
Background
The secretaryship has been contested through the courts for years, part of a wider factional split over control of the SLFP that has produced repeated litigation and rival claims to party office. Jayasekara has held and lost the position before through a sequence of party decisions and court orders.
This report rests on a single outlet. Ada Derana carried its own account of the ruling, but the site was unreachable at the time of writing; no other verified newsroom had filed on the decision.
