UNP won’t make same mistake as in 2015

• Nominating Maithripala Sirisena as our candididate was a big mistake 

By Yohan Perera   

The United National Party (UNP) led alliance will not make the same mistakes it made prior to the 2015 presidential election but will nominate a winning candidate for the elections this year, Minister Rajitha Senaratne said at a public rally held in Kuliyapitiya. 

“We will form a rainbow alliance and nominate a winning candidate for the presidential election. The party will reveal his name at the right time. However, we will not make the same mistake that we made at the 2015 presidential election by fielding a person like Maithripala Sirisena,” the minister said on Saturday.   

State Minister Nalin Bandara Jayamaha said it was important to make sure that a UNPer was elected as the president of this country. “The party has not been able to have one of its members elected as the head of State since the time of Ranasinghe Premadasa,” he said. “Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is a leader, who is capable of making right decisions. It was his decisions which helped us form a government after the 52-day constitutional coup. We trust he will make the right decision to ensure that the UNP wins the presidential election this time as well.”   

Mr. Jayamaha’s presence at the meeting was notable as he was seen at the rally held in Matara on August 23, which was attended by UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa, who has declared that he would contest for the presidency at the upcoming elections.

We will form a rainbow alliance and nominate a winning candidate for the presidential election. The party will reveal his name at the right time