The decision to field former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka as the common candidate in the 2010 presidential election was a mistake, UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake speaking to the Daily Mirror said

“We fielded a common candidate during the 2010 Presidential election with the hope of victory and we expected that the candidate fielded would secure more votes than Ranil Wickremesinghe received in the 2005 Presidential election. Unfortunately that was not the case and we lost the election. Therefore it is clear that the decision we took at the time was wrong”.

Attanayake also said that tomorrow’s rally organized by the United Bikkhu Front would benefit the government.

“What Sarath Fonseka is doing now will clearly benefit the government. By dividing the UNP and the opposition he seems to be helping the government continue with its practices”.(Hafeel Farisz)