Mervyn turns magnanimous!

• Says people should vote for ‘anyone they like’ 
• Claims President’s family “destroyed” him 
• Will sit with Opposition after 8 January

Appearing to distance himself from the Rajapaksa re-election campaign, Public Relations Minister Mervyn Silva yesterday urged the people to vote for “whoever” they liked. “Mahinda Rajapaksa is a noble man. His family destroyed everything. Go to the polling booth and vote for whoever you like,” Silva said at the SLFP office in Kiribathgoda. The Minister said that after 8 January, he would be sitting with the Opposition. The infamous Minister Mervyn has made overtures to leave the Government and join the Sirisena campaign, Opposition sources told Daily FT. However his defection plans were derailed after the main opposition UNP and the JathikaHelaUrumaya– bothkey members of the common Opposition alliance – refusedto accommodate the vociferous Minister, the sources said. With Opposition Candidate Maithripala Sirisena campaigning on a good governance platform, Silva’s entry would erode his credibility, the sources explained.