Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP) leader and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP from the Kurunegala district, Asanka Navaratana, said yesterday that his party has decided to support President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the upcoming Presidential election, citing the country’s pressing economic challenges.
“We believe President Wickremesinghe is the best candidate to implement the IMF-guided economic program, especially given the urgency of debt restructuring and the need to improve international relations between creditors and debtors,” Navaratana said.
When asked about the apparent conflict between the SLMP’s left-wing policies and President Wickremesinghe’s neoliberal economic approach, Navaratana said that the party had set aside its socialist policies in favour of sustaining the financial stability the country has achieved.“Our priority is to navigate the country out of this financial crisis,” he said.
“That’s why we visited President Wickremesinghe’s political office at Flower Road on Thursday to announce our support for his candidacy.”
Navaratana said that the decision to back President Wickremesinghe was made after two prior discussions with the President and was endorsed by the party’s Central, Political and Executive Committees.
