SJB to reiterate national list seat offer to Ranil

Members of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, led by Sajith Premadasa, yesterday decided to make a fresh offer to UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to enter Parliament through the national list under the SJB alliance as Premadasa was all set to contest the upcoming general election through the Colombo district, a UNP source told the Daily Mirror last evening.

During discussions held after the opening of the SJB office in Colombo, Premadasa loyalists said they would continue to persuade Wickremesinghe to accept the national list seat offer and contest unitedly to prevent the UNP from splitting.

Already yesterday, members Kavinda Jayawardena, Mujibur Rahman, Wijeypala Hettiarachchi and Dr. Rajitha Senaratne defected to the Premadasa camp with more defections likely in the coming days, sources in the SJB said.

The SJB has also sought legal advice on whether it could contest under the swan symbol at the upcoming general election, which if legally shot down, the alliance would contest under the telephone symbol.

More talks are to be held between the Premadasa and Wickremesinghe camps in the coming days before the deadline to submit nominations ends in a bid to contest unitedly, but as of last evening, Wickremesinghe's camp said it would continue to contest under the 'elephant' symbol and Wickremesinghe would contest from the Colombo district. (JAMILA HUSAIN)