SLPP, police in heated row over flags View(s):Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) supporters engaged in a heated argument with Thambuttegama police officers, including the officer in charge of the station, over the refusal to permit flags at a ceremony that was to be attended by the party’s National Organiser, Namal Rajapaksa. The SLPP supporters claimed that the police stopped them from putting up flags around the venue. SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam told the Sunday Times that the venue was about 50 metres away from the main road and that the OIC had no reason to object to the flags. “Our members asked the OIC why they could not display the flags when the police had no issue with commercial organisations doing so. He added that the law restricted the exhibition of political party flags only after an election was officially gazetted.

Source: Sunday Times January 18, 2026 04:57 UTC