Maithri shoots down Mahinda’s hopes

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday told former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in no uncertain terms that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) would not nominate a Prime Ministerial candidate before the next Parliamentary election.

At the discussion held between the two warring factions within the SLFP, President Sirisena explained the “disadvantages” of naming a Prime Ministerial candidate before the election. The President made his position clear when former President Rajapaksa’s group said the SLFP should name its Prime Ministerial candidate in the party’s run-up to the election. “When the name of the Prime Ministerial candidate is announced, it can be counter-productive to the party’s election campaign.

On the other hand, it is important to draw the support of minority voters into the party at the next election.