• Sajith will be the next presidential candidate

By Yohan Perera 

Sajith Premadasa will be the next presidential candidate, SJB National Organiser Tissa Attanayake said. 

Mr. Attanayake came out with this remark in response to reports which said there is going to be a tussle between MPs Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe for the Opposition Leader’s post. 

“There will not be any change in the Opposition Leader’s post. There cannot be as Mr. Premadasa is the member that commands the support of majority members of Opposition. He will also be the next presidential candidate,” he said. 

Also, he said UNP has at last accepted what I said on former President Maithripala Sirisena when the party supported him as the common candidate in 2015, SJB. “I warned the UNP Leader in December 2014 not to support the candidature of Former President Sirisena as it will result in the destruction of the party. My prediction had come true as UNP which is a party that had governed this country ended up without a single elected member in Parliament in 2020. I was sent to jail for coming up with this prediction,” he said. 

“UNP Leader seemed to be regretting the decision to back Mr. Sirisena in 2020,” he added. 

Also, Mr. Attanayake criticised the decision to impose power cuts and questioned the decision made by the Public Utilities Commission to give its approval for it. “The duty of Public Utilities Commission is to safeguard the people. Therefore, one wonders as to how the commission gave its approval for the CEB to impose power cuts,” he said. 

• I warned the UNP Leader in December 2014 not to support the candidature of Former President Sirisena as it will result in the destruction of the party