The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has asked former MP Eran Wickramaratne to relinquish his party membership following his appointment earlier on Wednesday to chair the Sri Lanka Cricket Transformation Committee.
SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara said the party had accepted Wickramaratne’s resignation from its Working Committee and Management Committee, but had also formally requested he step down from the party altogether. The decision is in line with the SJB’s policy of not allowing politicians to hold positions in sports governing bodies.
Wickramaratne was named earlier on Wednesday by Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage to lead a nine-member Transformation Committee that includes Kumar Sangakkara, Roshan Mahanama and Sidath Wettimuny. The minister has framed the body as a long-term reform vehicle rather than an interim caretaker, set to function until fresh SLC elections are held.
The committee was constituted hours after SLC President Shammi Silva and the entire Executive Committee resigned and the sport’s administration was placed under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports under Sections 31 and 34 of the Sports Law No. 25 of 1973.
The SJB request reflects a long-standing internal policy in the main opposition party drawing a line between elected political office and sports administration. Wickramaratne, a former State Minister and Deputy Minister, served on the SJB’s senior committees before exiting them this week to take up the cricket chair.
Source: Newswire.
