The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna’s (SLPP) National Organiser Government Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa said that now that the Rajapaksas (a reference to the family of former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa) are no longer aligned with President and independent Presidential candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe, the latter would be able to secure the support of Tamil and Muslim community-based political parties.
Speaking to the media yesterday (31 July), he said that there were previous allegations that certain MPs representing the main Parliamentary Opposition Party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), and Tamil and Muslim community-based political parties were not supporting Wickremesinghe as the Rajapaksas were with him.
“The President can now approach the SJB and Tamil and Muslim community based political parties and seek their support. The allegation was that they were not willing to support him as he was with those who engage in politics based on the Sinhala-Buddhist ideology, but now, they are free to support him.”
When queried as to whether the SLPP would initiate disciplinary action against their MPs who have extended their support to Wickremesinghe in the Presidential Election, Namal Rajapaksa said that they would focus on going ahead with their election campaign more than on disciplinary action.
“Let’s see about it in the future. They (SLPP MPs supporting Wickremesinghe) are still discussing with Wickremesinghe and us. Some of them are having discussions with three or four parties.”
The Politburo of the SLPP which met at the official residence of SLPP Leader and Government MP Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo early this week, decided to field a Presidential candidate of its own instead of supporting Wickremesinghe. The SLPP expressed that they would further look into qualified individuals to contest for the Presidential Election and that the person with the most likelihood to win would officially be named the SLPP’s Presidential candidate in the coming days. However, many of the SLPP members including Cabinet and State Ministers and MPs have already expressed their support to Wickremesinghe.