Party must remain united in electing a new leader

The decision will be made at the right time but said this will be only on one condition 

• The same person who had been leader for 26 years could not continue to be the leader of the party

By Jamila Husain  

Leader of the United National Party, Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said that his party will decide on who the next UNP leader will be “when the time is right”, days after a UNP senior has been openly voicing for a leadership change in his election campaigns.  

Mr. Wickremesinghe told Daily Mirror that the decision will be made at the right time but said this will be only on one condition, and that is the UNP must remain united in their decision over the new leader.  

“That is the one condition I have,” Wickremesinghe said.   UNP National Organiser and Nuwara Eliya District UNP candidate Navin Dissanayake recently said that the leadership of the UNP, which had remained unchanged for 26 years, needed to be changed adding that he had the required qualifications to become the leader of the party.   Dissanayake said he sought for a leadership change as the same person who had been leader for 26 years could not continue to be the leader of the party.   He further said the new leader should be elected through a secret ballot as this was a democratic process, done according to the party constitution without causing any rift within.   

• Nuwara Eliya District UNP candidate Navin Dissanayake recently said that he had the required qualifications to become the leader of the party