16 May 2020 12:00 am
By Yohan Perera
Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) candidate Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka yesterday ruled out the possibility of joining up with UNP even in the distant future.
“There is no possibility of SJB joining up with UNP even in the distant future as its supporters and voters do not want such a thing,” Field Marshal Fonseka told a press conference yesterday. “Senior leaders of the UNP such as Ravi Karunanayake are speaking favourably about the SLPP. He had even said that he would consider joining SLPP if he is invited. What SJB intends to do is to defeat SLPP,” Fonseka said.
“We are not totally against the UNP but do not want to work with those who are running it presently,” he said at the same time.
He said none of the SJB candidates want to withdraw their nominations and join up with UNP. “We have decided to contest separately and the UNP had handed over nominations to contest on its own, so there will not be any change in that scenario,” he said. Field Marshal Fonseka who was critical on the way the government handled the Covid-19 combating process said there is still uncertainty about
the future. “The Government seemed to be hellbent on holding elections but it could be held only with the approval of health specialists and security forces who had worked in the field combating the disease.