SLPP top officials push to contest polls under party name

• Top officials requested party leadership to contest under SLPP name, not coalition name: Ranatunga
• Claims SLPP is more familiar among MR loyalists
• SLPP confirms flower bud symbol to EC

By Nuwan Senarathna

Indicating a battle ahead with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), a top official of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) yesterday said senior SLPP officials would push the SLPP leadership to contest the forthcoming General Election under the SLPP name and not that of the coalition, after the Elections Commission confirmed the flower bud symbol.

The SLPP-SLFP coalition has been named the Sri Lanka Nidahas Podujana Sandanaya, but several senior officials of the SLPP had requested the SLPP leaders to consider contesting the General Election under the SLPP name and symbol, claiming that would be more popular.

Speaking to Daily FT, Industrial Export, Investment Promotion and Aviation Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said that senior members of the party had requested party leader Mahinda Rajapaksa and National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa to consider contesting the election under the SLPP name.

“We believe the SLPP name and the pohottuwa (flower bud) symbol are crucial for the upcoming General Election. People request us daily that they want us to contest under the party’s name and the symbol, therefore we have to respect their wishes and have informed that to the party’s leadership,” he said.

He pointed out that when Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated in 2015, his supporters gathered under the flower bud symbol and the SLPP, because of which he argued that those who are most loyal to Mahinda Rajapaksa would prefer to contest under the flower bud.

“Those who loyal to Mahinda Rajapaksa gathered around the SLPP and the flower bud symbol. It symbolises Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is the leader of the party. I think we should listen to those who never leave Mahinda Rajapaksa, than who crossed over later,” he added. Meanwhile, the SLPP yesterday informed the Election Commission (EC) that it would contest the upcoming General Election under the symbol of the flower bud. Issuing a statement, SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam said as per the regulations of the EC, the SLPP had informed the Commission of its decision to contest the General Election under the flower bud symbol.

Previously, the SLPP and SLFP, along with several other political parties which backed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa during the Presidential Election, agreed to contest the General Election as the Sri Lanka Nidahas Podujana Sandanaya under the flower bud symbol. However, the SLPP are yet to announce whether it will contest the election under the party name of the coalition name.