The UPFA or President Maithripala Sirisena did not want to make Gotabaya Rajapaksa the president on personal preference or for political agenda but they believe that it would lead to the betterment of the country, UPFA General Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera said.

"We are still conducting discussions with the SLPP. We have presented several proposals. If we get a positive response there will be no more discussions and there will be no difficulty to support Gotabaya Rajapaksa," Mr. Amaraweera said.

He told the media at the Sri Lana Freedom Party (SLFP) Headquarters today that the UPFA would support Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the presidential candidate because he had agreed with the national programme that they had proposed.

"Even the President’s dream is to lead the country to success. Gotabaya Rajapaksa has done a considerable amount of work for the country and we bring him back in the faith that he would continue with his momentum to work for the welfare of the country," he said.

"The UPFA has no intention of proposing Dallas Alahapperuma as the presidential candidate but we admire him for his straight-forwardness. The UPFA would not join the presidential election to receive any portfolios. After Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the election, the opposition leader will become the prime minister and President Maithripala Sirisena will continue with his political duties at the SLFP office," he said.

The UPFA did not conduct any discussion to build alliances with any other party except the Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna (SLPP).

"We are still continuing talks with the SLPP and we hope it would succeed. We have presented several proposals during the discussions. If we receive a positive response by today, there will be no more discussions and thus no hindrance to support Mr. Rajapaksa at the presidential election," Minister Amaraweera said. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)

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