Namal Rajapaksa pooh-poohs speculations on his candidature

• Says candidate will be another parliamentarian engaged in active politics

By B.G. Chaturanga

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa said in Anuradhapura on Saturday (03) that he will not be the SLPP Presidential candidate and that the SLPP candidate would be another parliamentarian engaged in active politics.

After meeting with SLPP supporters in Anuradhapura, he told the media that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s requests to President Ranil Wickremesinghe to appoint Parliamentarian S.M. Chandrasena to senior positions resulted in feelings between them.

“I do not believe that I must come from Hambantota to organise the affairs of the party in the Anuradhapura District. I would only give an impetus to it and encourage the supporters. Anuradhapura District is significant to the politics of party leader Mahinda Rajapaksa. I am hopeful the leaders of the area will take up that responsibility and be able to lead the party to victory in future elections.”

“The majority of the new generation is with the SLPP and they are planning to engage in active politics in the future. We should not be divided despite controversial issues. We must follow our ideologies and principles for the progress of the country. The doors of the SLPP are open to anyone to enter or leave. That is Mahinda Rajapaksa’s policy. However, we must abandon short-sighted politics. Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka and former President Maithripala Sirisena were such individuals who had been with us and left,” he further said.