President Ranil Wickremesinghe is likely to contest the Presidential election under an entirely new symbol other than the elephant or flower bud, Senior Presidential Advisor and UNP senior Ashu Marasinghe has revealed.
Professor Marasinghe told journalists during a media briefing that President Wickrmesinghe is considering to represent a number of parties as a national candidate.
“People such as Minister Prasanna Ranatunga has said many including himself have an issue supporting Mr. Wickremeisnghe if he contests the Presidential election under the elephant symbol. Likewise, we in the UNP too have an issue with him contesting under the pohotuwa. Therefore Mr. Wickremeisnghe is expected to contest under a new symbol,” the Professor stated.
Prof. Marasinghe further noted that more than 80 percent of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) will be supporting Mr. Wickremesinghe at the next Presidential election.
“We welcome the proposal made by SJB MP Talatha Athukorala that both the SJB and the UNP should unite. We expect others in the SJB to support Mr. Wickremeisnghe even if SJB leader Sajith Premadasa decides against such a move,” he added.
Speaking further, Prof. Marasinghe praised President Wickremesinghe for the efforts made within the last 2 years, adding that a significant change has indeed happened in the country and the economy of Sri Lanka has improved drastically.
