A large majority of the parliamentary group of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) believe that President Ranil Wickremesinghe should run for president, but the party will have to decide on who they will support, an MP said.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday March 06, State Minister Arundika Fernando said the SLPP’s parliamentary group overwhelmingly believes that President Wickremesinghe should be the one to govern the country going forward.
“We think at the moment that it is Ranil Wickremesinghe who can govern this country going forward. We will present our proposal to the party. If the party decides there’s someone better than that… None of this is about individuals. If the party proposes someone better, we will consider it. But now a large majority of our parliamentary group believes Mr Wickremesinghe can rescue the country from this situation,” said Fernando.
“If the party’s choice is President Wickremesinghe, we plan to come forward to the public and make our case,” he added.
Fernando said the SLPP hasn’t started campaigning yet.
“A majority of our MPs think Wickremesinghe can do this,” he repeated.
Sri Lanka is supposed to hold its next presidential election between September 17 and October 17. President Wickremesinghe has said the presidential election will be held first, followed by a parliamentary election next year. However, he has remained largely noncommital about his candidacy.
Spokespersons for the government have also made remarks about the possibility of abolishing the executive presidency, which would effectively render the need for a presidential election moot.
There is also some speculation that Wickremesinghe might dissolve parliament sooner than anticipated, but this has yet to be confirmed.