UNP insists on elections soon

Tuesday, 5 May 2015 02:15 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Jayashika Padmasiri The United National Party (UNP) yesterday said that post discussions with all political parties including minority parties and with the decision of the National Executive Committee, it is ready to go for a general election. UNP General Secretary and Minister Kabir Hashim addressing a media conference yesterday said that a general election needed to be held soon as

a Parliament representing the current mandate of the country should be appointed without delay. “If there is no time to hold an election according to a new electoral system, then an election should be held according to the prevailing system. Nevertheless, we are committed to enacting the 20th Amendment and we are optimistic that an agreement on the reforms will be achieved within the next 10 days. However, because of practical issues, the next election will most likely be held under the present system,” he said. Commenting further on the UNP May Day rally, he said that though the Opposition claims that the UNP is a minority Government, this year’s UNP May Day rally proved that the UNP has got the majority of the country’s public with it. “Usually we are labelled as a Government with minority seats in Parliament, but through this year’s May Day rally it was proved that the majority of the country’s people are with us. Our party succeeded to elect two average citizens – Ranasinghe Premadasa and Maithripala Sirisena – as Presidents of the country. Our May Day rally this year was one of the most successful rallies ever in its history and exceeded the number of participants that were present at all other political May Day rallies,” he said.