UNP nod for Ranil’s return to P’ment

• Working Committee appoints Leader to sole National List seat 

By Asiri Fernando

The Working Committee of the United National Party (UNP) yesterday appointed its Leader and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to the sole National List parliamentary seat the party secured during the last General Elections.

The decision to send a UNP representative to Parliament using the National List seat comes after the position was left vacant for nearly a year and a half, with the party unable to decide on who should be appointed.

“The decision was unanimous,” the UNP General Secretary, former Parliamentarian Palitha Range Bandara told the Daily FT.

Wickremesinghe has recently been pushing for reforms of the outdated public health legislature for a more effective response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as greater parliamentary oversight regarding the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill.  

A long-standing leadership struggle within the party triggered a vote for the Deputy Leader position following the landslide defeat suffered at the 2019 General Elections.  

The then party General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Ruwan Wijewardena, Ravi Karunanayake, Vajira Abeygunawardena and Daya Gamage had indicated their interest in becoming the next leader of the UNP. 

However, former Defence State Minister Ruwan Wijewardena was voted in as the Deputy Leader of the party in September 2020.