Manusha, Harin wow to focus on President’s election campaign after losing parliament seats

Manusha Nanayakkara and Harin Fernando who lost their parliament seats following the Supreme Court decision today put on a brave face saying they would focus full time on the campaign to elect Ranil Wickremesinghe as President as they are free of their responsibilities as ministers and MPs.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference this afternoon, Fernando, who resigned from his portfolio of Minister of  Tourism and Sports soon after the court ruling, said that he had met with the President after losing his parliamentary seat.

“The President seemed somewhat happy that I lost the seat because we have only five weeks to the election and we can engage in the campaign full time,”  Fernando said.

Manusha Nanayakkara said that he had no regrets about extending support to the incumbent president. “We are original UNPers that is why we were not afraid to take up the challenge. We are stepping out with no regrets as we have delivered on what we promised to do in 2022,” Nanayakkara said.

He added that both the Tourism Ministry and the Foreign Employment Minister that he headed had brought in the largest amount in foreign exchange in the past two years.

“When we decided to support the president, we knew the SJB constitution and that there was the possibility we would be removed  but we took up the challenge. It was a suicide mission in a way given the circumstances in the country at the time but we undertook the mission without any apprehensions on behalf of the people,” he added.