• Gen. Secy. notes that tycoon Perera is willing to contest

The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) stated that they are currently considering several candidates including Government Parliamentarian and businessman Dhammika Perera, in order to decide whom to field in the upcoming Presidential Election.

During a media briefing at the SLPP headquarters in Colombo yesterday (20), the media queried SLPP General Secretary and Government MP attorney Sagara Kariyawasam as to whether it is Perera who would be fielded by the party in the upcoming Presidential Election, to which he said that he could neither confirm nor deny such reports. Claiming that the SLPP had not yet made a final decision on the matter, he said that they would field someone who is capable of building the country as the presidential candidate. 

“What we clearly say is that we are considering a candidate out of three or four possibilities to field in the Presidential Election, and Perera is one of them. When the Presidential Election is close by, we will be fielding the most suitable candidate. The party’s Executive Committee will decide on it. I cannot make the decision as the General Secretary," he said, while adding that Perera has expressed his willingness to contest the Presidential Election.

On an earlier occasion, Kariyawasam said that there were several politicians – including former Finance Minister and the SLPP’s incumbent National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa – who could be fielded as the party’s candidate for the upcoming Presidential Election, instead of the SLPP-backed incumbent President and United National Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

With the Presidential Election being scheduled for next year (2024), several leading political parties have hinted at the candidates who would possibly be fielded by them. Among them are Wickremesinghe, Samagi Jana Balawegaya and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and National People’s Power Leader and Opposition MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake.