SJB all out to recover lost ground, eyes Ranil’s votes

The SJB is planning to win back voters who supported Ranil Wickremesinghe at last month’s presidential election to secure a parliamentary majority in the upcoming general election on November 14, former SJB MP Tissa Attanayake has said.

Speaking at the SJB headquarters at Ward Place, Colombo, yesterday, Attanayake stated that Wickremesinghe had successfully encroached upon the SJB’s voter base, resulting in a division of votes.

“We have developed a strategy to regain these lost votes for the SJB in the upcoming general election,” he said. “Our plan is to launch a grassroots campaign aimed at winning back UNP voters who previously voted for Wickremesinghe instead of Sajith Premadasa. We have instructed all SJB candidates to engage in a ground-level campaign to win back the trust of these voters.”

Attanayake said that there had been a significant number of non-voters, noting that one out of every three eligible voters did not participate in the presidential election. “We believe it is essential to win over a portion of these non-voters as well,” he added. “Our campaign strategy is centered on these fundamental points.”

“We urge the public to give the SJB the opportunity to secure a parliamentary majority under the leadership of Sajith Premadasa. This will allow us to establish transparent and effective governance in the country,” Attanayake said.

He said: “The SJB has completed all the nomination papers for the 2024 parliamentary election across all 22 electoral districts. We intend to present a strong and competitive list of candidates in each of these districts. The messages we communicated during the presidential election have now been incorporated into the SJB’s manifesto for the general election. We also plan for our candidates to engage directly with voters through a door-to-door campaign. Additionally, we have organized a series of promotional rallies. Our election campaign will cover 12,000 polling stations, and we have already developed plans to launch this initiative.”