Even as the talk of early dissolution of Parliament is gaining ground, the United National Party (UNP) on Friday sought to take the prime mover advantage by announcing that it would go it alone during the parliamentary polls.
“We have decided to field candidates in all the seats under our party symbol of elephant,” Kabir Hashim, the UNP’s general secretary and Minister for Highways and Investment Promotion, told The Hindu after a meeting of the party’s Working Committee here.
The UNP's decision comes five days after President Maithripala Sirisena's statement that he did not enter into any agreement with the UNP at the time of facing the poll. Mr. Sirisena had quit the previous regime led by Mahinda Rajapaksa in November last to become the common opposition candidate in the Presidential election in January.
Previous polls in 2010 The term of the present Parliament expires in April next year. When the last parliamentary elections took place in April 2010, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)-led United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) retained power comfortably, winning 144 seats. UNP secured 60 seats; Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi/Tamil National Alliance 14 and the Democratic National Alliance seven.
When Mr. Sirisena assumed office as President in January, he made Mr. Wickremesinghe the Prime Minister. At present, a coalition government is in office and this includes the UNP, a section of the SLFP and some smaller parties such as the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and the Up Country People’s Front and the National Union of Workers (NUW).
