Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Gampaha District Parliamentarian Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle has decided to support Samagi Jana Balawegaya and Opposition Leader, Presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa in the upcoming Presidential Election.
Dr. Fernandopulle, together with several civil society representatives and her supporters, met Premadasa at the Opposition Leader's Office in Colombo yesterday (11), and informed him of her decision.
Following the meeting, she spoke to the media, emphasising that among the announced Presidential candidates, only Premadasa possesses the necessary leadership, experience, and a capable team to steer the country toward a brighter future. “Our nation requires strong leadership and a dedicated team. I am confident that Premadasa and his team have the ability to eradicate corruption and alleviate the hardships the people are facing due to the ongoing economic crisis,” she said.
Fernandopulle said that she was the first to resign as a State Minister in April 2022, even before the ‘aragalaya’ (people's struggle which demanded the resignation of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his Government in 2022), as she was not in a position to agree with the policies of the group (SLPP) at that time. “I was sitting in the Opposition for two-and-a-half years, and did not join any group. I now believe that I can better serve the country with Premadasa and his group.”
A Specialist Medical Officer of Community Medicine by profession, Dr. Fernandopulle entered politics after the assassination of her husband, former Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle. She was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Higher Education in the United National Front Government in 2015, and then as the State Minister of Covid-19 Control, Primary Healthcare, and Epidemics in the SLPP Government led by Rajapaksa in 2020. In April 2022, she resigned as the State Minister and sat in the Opposition, together with other SLPP MPs, including W.D.J. Seneviratne, and Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, who recently extended their support to incumbent President and Presidential candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe.