UNP has not chosen presidential candidate yet - Eran

The United National Party (UNP) has still not chosen its presidential candidate, according to State Minister of Finance Eran Wickramaratne.

“There should be democracy within the party. We will establish democracy within the United National Party,” he said, responding to questions from reporters. 

He said there is a procedure that the party has to follow when selecting a presidential candidate and that it is done by the UNP’s Working Committee and the Parliamentary Group together, because the MPs are sent in by the people as their representatives.

Wickramaratne said that he believes the Working Committee and the Parliamentary Group will have a meeting very soon and that their presidential candidate will be chosen by a majority vote.

Responding to a question as to whether the party will field another Common Candidate, the State Minister said that a common candidate will be contesting this time, but that candidate will be from the UNP. “That is guaranteed. We will not allow anyone to change that fact,” he said.