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“Sajith is a person who will never bow down to conditions, they know who I am”
National Democratic Front (NDF) Presidential nominee Sajith Premadasa insisted yesterday that he had not agreed to any conditions to become the candidate.
Sajith Premadasa addressing a news conference yesterday at Mangala Samaraweera's official residence. Pic by Indika Handuwala
“Sajith is a person who will never bow down to conditions. They know who I am. They will not place conditions,” he said at a news conference at the official residence of the Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera in Stanmore Crescent.
A resolution to be adopted by the party endorsing his candidature, he said, was a continuation of the policies of the United National party. His candidature has been endorsed by the party’s working committee.
He said his party; the UNP was always a united party and it was wrongly projected that conditions had been placed for his candidacy.
He said, anybody other than those who have been found guilty of any offences by a court or tribunal can join him, if they agreed to the party principles.
Mr Premadasa said one of his top priorities was to ensure that the tax payers does not pay for the Executive.
He said that his manifesto will be a ‘progressive’ document with benefits to all communities.
He said any reforms need to be taken to the people first and implemented in a transparent manner.
He said he would review the pros and cons of international agreements before signing them if he is elected as president.
He would only go ahead with international agreements if it benefits the country. He added that those agreements would be made government policies if they only benefit the people and the country.
He said that he would look afresh at all the international, political, economic and trade agreements. Following that he would have a transparent procedure and enlist the support of all stake holders including specialists in particular topics and would do a cost benefit analysis.
“Defence related agreements such as Status of Force Agreement (SOFA) and other agreements covering, socio, economic, political, trade, security and defence sectors would be subjected to analysis,” he said.
Former Minister S.B. Nawinna who was elected from the UNP and later opted to support the UPFA returned to the UNP pledging support for Mr Premadasa.