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Four contestants for Wednesday’s presidential poll in Parliament
View(s):- Ranil, Sajith, Dullas and Anura Kumara vie for the post, amid heavy canvassing among different parties
- Ruling SLPP split; SLFP says it won’t support any candidate; TNA to decide on Tuesday
Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe (United National Party), Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa (Samagi Jana Balawegaya), former Minister Dullas Alahapperuma (as an independent faction of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna) and Anura Kumara Dissanayake (National People’s Power) will contest each other when Parliament meets on Wednesday, July 20, for the vote.
Parliament Secretary General Dhammika Dasanayake yesterday informed the House that Parliament would convene on Tuesday, July 19, at 10am to receive the nominations of the presidential candidates.
If more than one candidate submits nominations, a secret ballot to elect the next President will take place in Parliament as previously agreed.
Intense lobbying has been going on since President Rajapaksa’s resignation with the main coalition party, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) clearly split on whose candidature to back.
Party General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam announced that the SLPP which officially has the most seats in the House would vote for Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe, but immediately after his announcement, party chairman and Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris wrote to the party General Secretary calling for his explanation asking him with whose authority he was making such an announcement. The SLPP chairman sent the SLPP general secretary a six-point questionnaire yesterday in writing based on the latter’s announcement on Friday.
A faction of the SLPP was backing the candidature of Mr Alahapperuma. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) last afternoon decided it would not support any of the candidates on the grounds that it would harm the principle of having an All-Party Government.
The party believes that having multiple candidates contest for the presidency will only worsen the current situation and lead to further instability.
The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) yesterday unanimously endorsed the candidacy of party leader Sajith Premadasa. The party is currently having discussions with other political parties with the aim of canvassing support for him, SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara told the Sunday Times. “We are still intent on forming an all-party government and ideally, we would hope Mr. Premadasa is appointed by consensus,” the MP said.
Meanwhile, the National People’s Power (NPP) made a surprise announcement that its leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake would also contest for the presidency. The party’s earlier proposal was for the Speaker to be appointed as the President with a Prime Minister who will serve under him in an interim all-party government appointed by consensus, NPP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath said. The party wanted the new government to function for a short period to resolve the immediate issues faced by the people until new parliamentary elections were held.
“However, it is now clear that other parties are not in agreement with this. We have still not given up our effort to form an interim all-party government, but if such an agreement cannot be reached, we will field our leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake as a candidate,” Mr Herath told a media briefing.
In the SLPP coalition, a group of 10 parties that function as independents are also in discussions to decide whom to support.
“We now have a situation where four or even more candidates could contest. This shows that many of these parties are yet to comprehend the mindset of the people,” Sri Lanka Communist Party (SLCP) parliamentarian Weerasumana Weerasinghe said.
He said the 10-party collective had not given up trying to persuade parties to appoint someone by consensus. “But we have also called upon those who have already announced their candidature to present their action plans to us. We will take a decision on whom to support after these discussions.”
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which has 10 MPs will meet on Tuesday to decide which candidate to support, while former Chief Minister of the Northern Province and sole member of the Tamil People’s National Front, C.V. Wigneswaran has already announced that he will not be voting for any candidate.
Earlier, President Rajapaksa appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Acting President with effect from July 13, in terms of Article 37 (1) of the Constitution. In terms of these provisions, Mr Wickremesinghe was given the authority to exercise, perform and discharge the powers, duties, and functions of the Office of President during the period of the President’s “absence” from Sri Lanka.
However, that position ceased to exist with the resignation of President Rajapaksa while in Singapore. Mr Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Acting President under the Constitution’s Article 40 (1) (c) which says that the Prime Minister will assume duties and functions in the office of the President until a new President shall be elected by Parliament.
This is the second time since the enactment of the 1978 Constitution that Parliament has to meet to decide on a President to serve the balance period of an elected President, the first being when Prime Minister D.B. Wijetunge became Acting President and then was voted by Parliament as President following the assassination of President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993.
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