Former State Minister Ashok Abeysinghe has resigned from every position he held in the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, with effect from 12 October, and neither newsroom that filed on the resignation reports a reason for it, the Daily Mirror reported.
The posts he gave up
Both accounts list the same five roles:
- Deputy General Secretary of the party
- Chief Organiser for the Kurunegala electoral district
- Head of the Samagi Sewaka Sangamaya, the party’s workers’ union
- Trade Union Coordinating Secretary to the Opposition Leader
- Member of the party’s Executive Committee
The two filings do not agree on who the letter went to
The accounts diverge on a basic point. The Daily Mirror says the letter was addressed to SJB Leader and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa. Hiru News says he informed General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara — and Hiru’s Sinhala edition of the same filing says the same thing.
The photograph of the letter that Hiru published with its report supports Hiru’s version: the addressee block is headed to the General Secretary of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya and names Madduma Bandara, and the salutation is to the General Secretary rather than to the party leader. Sending a resignation of party office to the General Secretary is the ordinary procedural route.
Two smaller differences are matters of rendering rather than fact. The Daily Mirror shortens the party title to “Deputy Secretary”, where Hiru’s English and Sinhala both give Deputy General Secretary. Hiru translates the Samagi Sewaka Sangamaya as the “Samagi Workers’ Union” and his role there as Chairman, where the Daily Mirror keeps the Sinhala name and calls him President. These describe the same post.
The Daily Mirror also reports content Hiru does not: that Abeysinghe thanked Premadasa for the support and opportunities extended to him, and traced their working relationship back to their time in the United National Party and forward through the SJB’s formation. Hiru’s summary of the letter is narrower — that he was glad to have worked with the party from its inception and wished everyone success in leading it to victory. The two are not incompatible, but given that the paper misplaces the addressee, the detail about Premadasa rests on the Daily Mirror alone.
His own letterhead styles him “Former State Minister & Former Member of Parliament”, and spells his first name Ashok — the form both newsrooms use, though the longer Ashoka appears elsewhere.
Not reported
Neither filing gives a reason for the resignation, and neither says whether Abeysinghe remains a member of the SJB — he has given up his offices, not stated that he is leaving the party. No filing says whether the resignation has been accepted, whether he intends to join another party or contest under another banner, or whether the move follows any internal dispute. There is no response from Premadasa, from Madduma Bandara or from the SJB in either account, and no comment from Abeysinghe beyond the letter itself.
Madduma Bandara spent Monday leading a separate SJB delegation to Kandy, where the Malwathu Mahanayake Thera questioned several of the claims the opposition put to him. Neither filing connects the two.
No third verified newsroom had filed on the resignation at the time of writing.
Sources: Daily Mirror, Hiru News.
