There are exactly 27 days to the Presidential Election. According to the 1978 Constitution, we can recall two exceptional Presidential Elections from the first Presidential Election held in 1982 until now.
One of those Presidential Elections is the second Presidential Election in Sri Lanka in 1988, which was held under the terror of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). The whole country was on fire because of the posters that were pasted all over the island saying ‘Death to the one who casts his vote first at the polling station’.
But the majority of the people of the country worked to express their opinion without fearing even those bullets. Ranasinghe Premadasa won the Presidential Election even though there were those who acted in a way to deprive that democratic right.
The second was when Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga contested the Presidential Election while serving as the Western Province Chief Minister and it was 1994. At that point there was clear evidence that she would definitely win.
The successor President D. B. Wijetunga held the office of President for more than a year and then the United National Party (UNP) nominated Gamini Dissanayake for the Presidential Election and the UNP Presidential Candidate Gamini Dissanayake lost his life in the Thotalanga bomb blast on the eve of the Presidential Election.
The remarkable difference was that Gamini Dissanayake’s wife Srima Dissanayake was nominated for the Presidential Election for that vacancy. When there were people like Ranil Wickremesinghe who had a lot of experience in the party, there was no competition at that time by presenting a candidate who had no political knowledge and experience.
Srima Dissanayake
In the end, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga secured a record 62.28 percent of the votes cast. Srima Dissanayake could get only 35.91 percent of votes. It was the highest percentage of votes that a President had received at that time.
Those are two unique moments in the history of Presidential Elections.
The 2024 Presidential Election is now upon us. That Presidential Election is also unique. This time, 39 candidates competed in the Presidential race (one candidate died last Friday) and for the first time in history, is President with executive powers contesting as an independent candidate. Among the candidates running for the Presidential Election this year, there are four candidates who have the attention of the people.
Among them are the current President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Presidential Candidate of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Sajith Premadasa, Presidential Candidate of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Namal Rajapaksa and the Leader of the National People’s Power (NPP) Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
Among these, some inquiry should be made as to who has received the majority support.
Apart from the Speaker, the composition of the Parliament is 224 seats. The NPP has 3 seats out of it. That is the mandate given to them by the people in the last general election. Since then, society has been talking about the fact that they got about 3 percent of the total population, and that is why they are called the 3 percent party even today. Its candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake has not received the support of any other party in the Parliament. Accordingly, he will compete for the presidency with three parliamentary seats.
The candidate contesting from the SLPP is MP Namal Rajapaksa. He is the candidate of the Podujana Peramuna, but he has received the support of only 23 MPs out of the 145 MPs of the Podujana Peramuna. Meanwhile, it is also doubtful whether a significant contribution can be obtained from the other MPs who do not have much attention of the people, apart from the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, former Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa and former Minister Johnston Fernando.
Sajith Premadasa, the candidate of the SJB, has 54 MPs in his party, but currently 14 MPs have left the party. Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, who was the Chairman of the party, left the party and is running separately for the Presidential ticket, and MP Thalatha Athukorala, who was a strong figure of the SJB, also left the party by making a special statement in Parliament recently. Nearly 10 MPs from those who were in that party went to strengthen the hands of the President.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has also appeared in the Presidential contest as an independent candidate, but he has received support from many parties. The specialty of receiving that support is that the President has also received the support of the MPs of the parties belonging to two Presidential Candidates. Especially when Sajith Premadasa was a Presidential Candidate of the SJB, many of its MPs have worked to support the President. Among the prominent figures are Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Kumara Welgama and upcountry representatives such as Vadivel Suresh, Aravindh Kumar, Velu Kumar and Ishak Rahuman who has got the highest preferential votes of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people in Rajarata.
The key figures of the SLPP also include, the Chief Government Whip of the ruling party, Urban Development and Housing Minister Prasanna Ranatunga, Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena, Education Minister Dr. Susil Premajayantha, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera and Justice and Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry. In addition, more than 90 MPs, including seniors of the SLPP have agreed to support Ranil Wickremesinghe’s victory in the Presidential Election. Meanwhile, the said Ministers stated that many MPs who left the SLPP and became independent have now joined the group.
The President also has the support of the entire party, including its Chairman, MP Wajira Abeywardena, on behalf of the United National Party (UNP), which belongs to the President.
The resolution to support President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is running as an independent candidate in the Presidential Election, was passed by majority vote in the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) Central Committee which met on August 1 under the patronage of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. In particular, many Ministers including State Minister Sisira Jayakody represent that party.
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Politburo and Central Committee met on July 31 and decided to support President Ranil Wickremesinghe in this year’s Presidential Election. In that regard, the Chairman of the party, Minister of Ports and Shipping, Nimal Siripala de Silva, and the party’s General
Written request
Secretary, Duminda Dissanayake, said that President Wickremesinghe had sent a written request for their support during the Presidential Election. Fourteen members of the SLFP are represented in the Parliament and former President Maithripala Sirisena has publicly declared that he will not support any party and all the other 12 members of the party except MP Dayasiri Jayasekara have already expressed their support for the President.
In addition, the two MPs of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) led by Minister Douglas Devananda, who is a representation of the people of the North, Douglas Devananda and MP Kulasingam Dhileeban have also joined in support of the President. The support of both of them is a representation of the majority of people in the North. The EPDP drew the attention of the President to resolve the fishing port and land issues, which were a big problem for the people of the north.
The National Congress led by Eastern Province, Batticaloa District MP A.L.M. Athaullah has also agreed to support President Ranil Wickremesinghe in this Presidential Election. He is an Eastern Province power plant. Apart from him, another powerhouse in the East, ‘Pillayan’ alias Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, has also given his full support to the President. Chandrakanthan, warmly welcomed the President who visited Batticaloa recently and received a high response from the public. He is the Leader of the Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP). Accordingly, the President has the support of all the unions, societies and local branches belonging to the TMVP.
Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) General Secretary Minister Jeevan Thondaman has decided to support President Ranil Wickremesinghe in this Presidential Election as he is a leader who has focused on the demands of the tea plantation workers. Having his and the All Ceylon Workers’ Congress support means getting the full support of plantation workers. Especially, the National Assembly of the party met and took this decision on August 18. This was announced by Thondaman, in a special press conference held at CWC headquarters, Hatton, Kotagala.
Minister Thondaman also said that all the members of the party’s national assembly unanimously decided to support Ranil Wickremesinghe. Thondaman also said the national assembly took the decision because it had agreed to solve the economic problems that existed in this country for two years, to increase the wages of the plantation workers and upgrade infrastructure, and to grant land rights.
Apart from him, the leader of that party, Senthil Thondaman, has also explained that the entire plantation workers should work hand in hand with the President.
Four MPs from the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) led by Rishad Bathiudeen represent the Parliament, out of which all the other three MPs except Bathiudeen have joined the support of the President. Puttalam District MP Ali Sabri Raheem of the same party, MP Ishak Rahuman, who was elected to Parliament from Anuradhapura District from the SJB in the last General Election, has also expressed his support to President Ranil Wickremesinghe. He is the person who got the highest number of votes of the SJB from Anuradhapura District in the last General Election.
Apart from that, Digamadulla District MP S.M.M. Muszhaaraff has also expressed his support to the President. The party has informed the President that it will provide support in writing.
These three MPs called a special press conference and pledged their support for the victory of President Ranil Wickremesinghe in the upcoming Presidential Election.
It should be particularly pointed out that as mentioned earlier, the stalwarts of the SJB Rajitha Senaratne, Vadivel Suresh and Aravindh Kumar, came to the support of the President. In addition to this, M. Velu kumar, who is a strong member of the SJB in the Kandy District, and a former member of the COPE and MP Kumara Welgama are also backing President Wickremesinghe.
On this occasion, the entire United People’s Party, including Minister Tiran Alles, who was nominated as a MP of the SLPP joined in support of President Wickremesinghe.
The support of the Sri Telo organisation was also given to President Ranil Wickremesinghe recently. Its leader Pararajasingham Udayarasa announced his decision while addressing a press conference at President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s campaign office in Colombo 7. Former Minister S.B. Navinna and National Publicity Secretary of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress U.L.M.N. Mubeen have also extended their support to the President.
Thus, Ranil Wickremesinghe has the support of 9 out of 15 parties representing Parliament. Out of the remaining six parties, apart from the 10 members of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the three members of the National People’s Power (NPP), all four parties have one MP.
Kalanidhi M. Anwar
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Democratic Party Chairman Kalanidhi M. Anwar informed the President that he will provide the party’s support. During the Ampara conference, this was publicly informed in a special discussion held on August 19 at the party’s headquarters. He said that Wickremesinghe, who came to Parliament as a National List Member when the country was facing an economic recession, took responsibility and proved his leadership clearly and practically in two years.
The Northern Organiser of the SJB Victor Stanley, also joined the President’s support during a meeting with the President at his political office, Flower Road, Colombo on August 21.
The President has the support of the majority of members of the entire Parliament and the support of many registered political parties in Sri Lanka. Those politicians have pointed out that the support was due to the fact that when the country was in a crisis, the other leaders were unable to accept the responsibilities and took the leadership of the country and saved the country.
