Hirunika urges UNF party leaders to arrive at consensus on presidential candidate

Parliamentarian Hirunika Premachandra has urged United National Front (UNF) party leaders to arrive at a common consensus on their Presidential candidate, since the current situation has inconvenienced many Parliamentarians.

Addressing a press conference today (Aug 27), Ms Premachandra who represents the United National Party (UNP) which heads the UNF alliance, said that backbench parliamentarians would support any candidate nominated by the party leadership.

However, she emphasised that she would not support an individual who enters into political "deals" with President Maithripala Sirisena.

"The only individual who left the government helpless in the face of the people is the President. If we accept the President into our faction then we would lose whatever votes we have," she remarked.

Commenting on the upcoming presidential elections, the parliamentarian pointed out that there are 1.7 million new votes of first-time voters which the United National Party (UNP)-led UNF alliance and the SLPP are both vying for.

However, she urged the youth to take precaution over the candidacy of SLPP Presidential candidate Gotabhaya Rajapaksa by recalling how freedom of speech had been curbed during his tenure as defense secretary before 2015.

Ms. Premachandra remained upbeat of the UNF's chances of winning the election irrespective of which candidate is nominated.

She said that the parties which have a huge voter base are with the UNP, unlike the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) which recently formed an alliance with ten unrecognized parties.

However, she pointed out that no single party could win the elections alone.