Entire UNP leadership at fault for recent defeat : Mano

The entire UNP leadership is at fault for the defeat in the presidential elections as the party did not have a strategy and plan to attract more Buddhist votes at the election, a former minister said yesterday.

Former Minister and Leader of the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) Mano Ganesan told Daily Mirror that he will not point his finger at the UNP leader alone but would blame the entire party hierarchy for the failure to attract more votes from the majority community.

“It's not only Ranil Wickremesinghe but the UNP hierarchy that is at fault. They were no clear strategy and plan to attract Buddhist votes. More importantly, I said this at the first party leaders meeting after elections too. I said real Buddhism is no threat but a motherly concept for all Sri Lankans,” he said.

Earlier in a Twitter message, Mr Ganesan said he had informed the UNP leadership to work out a strategy to reclaim the confidence of the Buddhists which it had lost over the years.

“I repeatedly reminded UNP leadership at party leader discussions over the last many years, that it had lost the confidence of the Sri Lankan Buddhists and it should work out a strategy to reclaim what it was during the time of late President J. R Jayewardene,” Mr Ganesan said in his latest Twitter message. (Yohan Perera)