He told a media briefing that his party did not see President Rajapaksa contesting for a third term as a problem because he could be defeated by a joint effort of all opposition parties.

“A Supreme Court interpretation will be necessary in the event the President decides to contest for a third term and the ultimate result of such a scenario is obvious when taking into account the status of the judiciary today.” The UNP General Secretary said.

He hinted at the possibility of fielding a common opposition candidate when he said the party had decided to have discussions with other opposition parties on working out a common agenda.

Mr. Attanayake said the UNP had actually begun discussions with other political parties including some in the Government.

“We are on the verge of arriving at an agreement with some members of the government to work together at the next presidential election,” he said and added that any common platform of join opposition political parties should be led by the UNP because it had an 80 per cent stake.

However the UNP General Secretary said any common platform of the join opposition should be led by the UNP as the party has an 80 percent stake in the total number of opposition votes.

Meanwhile Mr. Attanayake asked whether the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka had reached an agreement with the Government on holding a presidential election in the midst of the papal visit.

“The church has insisted that the election be held before the Pope’s visit to Sri Lanka and therefore we wonder when the election will be held,” he added. (Yohan Perera and Sanath Desmond)