By Shamindra Ferdinando

SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, MP, on Wednesday (20) said that members of the government parliamentary group could freely contribute to the continuing discussion on whether the party should throw its weight behind President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the forthcoming presidential poll though they were yet to take a final decision.

Kariyawasam said so when The Island inquired about the inordinate delay in an official announcement in the wake of Chief Government Whip Prasanna Ranatunga declaring his support for incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s candidature whereas Leader of the House Susil Premjayanth, too, aligned himself with MP Nimal Lanza’s New Alliance backing the UNP leader.

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera is another vocal supporter of President Wickremesinghe. Attorney-at-Law Kariyawasam emphasised that the SLPP would make the announcement in the near future. When The Island pointed out the SLPP was running out of time as the Election Commission would make an official announcement in respect of the presidential poll in mid-July, National List MP emphasized the declaration would be made at the right time.

“Even if we reached a consensus on their candidate, an announcement wouldn’t be made in a hurry,” MP Kariyawasam said. The first-time entrant to parliament discussed the issues at hand against the backdrop of SLPP Chairman Mahinda Rajapaksa and its founder Basil Rajapaksa meeting President Ranil Wickremesinghe to iron out differences between the two parties.

MP Kariyawasam said that the SLPP officially announced Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s candidature on Aug 11, 2019, just three months ahead of the polls day.

The SLPP spokesman pointed out the JVP/NPP and SJB presidential polls campaigns had run out of steam. The SJB declared its leader Sajith Premadasa’s candidature on May 16, 2023, soon after the JVP/NPP named their leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake as the contestant.

The party wouldn’t bar members from commenting on the issue at hand but expected all to go along with the decision taken by the party.

In spite of electing Wickremesinghe as the President in July 2022, to complete the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s five-year term, the SLPP couldn’t secure new cabinet appointments for its members, MP Kariyawasam said.

Earlier in the day, the media asked Chief Government Whip who is also urban development and housing minister Ranatunga whether he backed Wickremesinghe’s candidature or the SLPP.

The Gampaha District MP said that the issue of him taking sides didn’t arise as President Wickremesinghe, too, was with the SLPP. The media confronted Ranatunga as he was leaving a meeting of the SLPP parliamentary group held at Nelum Mawatha office, Battaramulla also attended by SLPP General Secretary Kariyawasam.

Asked whether the SLPP would field Wickremesinghe at the next presidential poll, Minister Ranatunga said that the party would decide in due course.

As the media pressed the Minister on his stand on Wickremesinghe and also that of the party, he asked the media to pose their questions to Basil Rajapaksa who was at the Nelum Mawatha office at that time.

Later in the day, addressing a gathering at Naiwala, Gampaha Minister Ranatunga reiterated that Wickremesinghe, who accepted the daunting task of leading the country during the ongoing crisis, was the best candidate the SLPP could field. Minister Ranatunga said that it was the SLPP’s responsibility to back Wickremesinghe as the people, too, wanted him as he proved his capacity to effect a system change in the country.

Minister Ranatunga emphasised that the SLPP should accept responsibility for their failure to properly govern the country in spite of polling 6.9 mn votes and 6.6 mn votes at the 2019 presidential and 2020 parliamentary polls. Therefore, Wickremesinghe, who stepped-in at a very difficult time should be given an opportunity to contest the presidential poll.

The Gampaha District strongman has declared that Wickremesinghe was the best though there were other names mentioned as possible candidates. The lawmaker stressed that as the country faced an immense economic crisis, Wickremesinghe, who had already proved his expertise in this field, was the most qualified to lead the country.