The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) will enter into a coalition agreement in mid October, to face the upcoming Presidential election, UPFA Parliamentarian and SLPP strongman C.B. Ratnayake told the Sunday Observer yesterday. He said most of the elements in the proposed alliance have already been finalized.
“We have come into a basic agreement of sharing power within the coalition on a 55:45 basis. The SLPP will bear 55 percent of power within the alliance, while all other parties including the SLFP will share the balance 45 percent” Ratnayake said.
“Mahinda Rajapaksa will be the leader of this alliance, no doubt.
But we have not thought of giving a position to Gotabaya, as he is the common candidate of the alliance,” the Nuwara Eliya district Parliamentarian explained.
Talks between the SLPP and the SLFP began in March this year targeting the upcoming Presidential elections. However, the SLPP went a step ahead and announced Gotabaya Rajapaksa as their Presidential candidate, despite the ongoing discussions.
Amid these conditions, the SLFP informed the Election Commission last week that the party expects to field a separate candidate for Presidential election 2019.
“That is our backup plan,” SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara told the Sunday Observer yesterday.
“If discussions between the parties failed, we need to have an alternative plan. That is why we informed the Election Commission.” He said there are a few issues that both parties should come into a final agreement on.