Sri Lankan Opposition Party Activist Dies After Setting Himself on Fire

A 60-year-old activist of Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party (UNP) died Tuesday morning after setting himself on fire near the party headquarters.

Rienzie Algama, a father of three and a UNP supporter for more than 20 years, died of severe burns around midnight on Tuesday.

“I was able to speak with him at the hospital,” said UNP deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya. “He was conscious at that time. With tear-filled eyes he said ‘I made this sacrifice to set an example to create unity among our party members. If we continue in this manner, the party has no future.’”

According to his wife, Algama had close relations with former Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa and with current party officials. Neighbors say Algama played a major role in the development of his village and that his death will be a great loss.

Algama’s wife said that her husband had told the police he’s doing this to teach a lesson to the UNP. However, it is unclear when Algama had made such a statement. Algama’s son, speaking to the media, said his father sounded very disappointed on Monday and had said he’s leaving politics. Family members began to worry when Algama’s phone was turned off.

At a UNP media briefing Tuesday, UNP general secretary Tissa Attanayake said Algama had expressed concern about the party’s future.

“I also remember phone conversations when (Algama) spoke about party unity,” Attanayake said. “He never asked for anything from the party. What he said was we have to win, we all have to work together and that he’s against party divisions. We didn’t think it was going to this extreme.”

Algama’s wife said she believes her husband’s decision was a personal one but that he loved the children and couldn’t understand how he had the ability to do something like this. The police are conducting further investigations into the incident.