The UNP's decision to field Ranil Wickremesinghe as a candidate for the next Presidential Election has somewhat shattered the hopes of fielding a common candidate of the opposition, JVP former Parliamentarian K.D. Lalkantha said. 

"Ranil Wickremesinghe cannot be accepted as a common candidate of the opposition," the JVP stalwart said. 

He also made it clear that the JVP has still not made any decision with regard to the next Presidential Election as its timelines are still not clear. 

"We don't know whether the government will opt to go for a Presidential Election. If President Rajapaksa realizes that the people's verdict is turning against him, he might back down and go for an alternate option. He might reduce certain powers of Executive Presidency and find a way to retain office for another six years. It is naive to believe that the President will relinquish his powers smoothly," he added. 

However, he admitted that the topic 'Presidential Election' was discussed among decision making circles of the JVP. 

When asked whether the JVP was planning to 'skip' the next Presidential election as claimed by some newspaper, Lalkantha said, "there's no such decision."