UNP Says Report On Wickremesinghe Promising Finance Ministry And Deputy Leader Post To Ravi A Juvenile Misinformation Campaign By President Sirisena

December 07, 2018

The United National Party today said that the newspaper article claiming UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had promised the Finance Ministry and the party deputy leader post to Ravi Karunanayake was a "juvenile" misinformation campaign by President Maithripala Sirisena. 

"Someone with an iota of common sense and intelligence would know that no one in the UNP would bargain for positions at a time like this. It does not require a lot of wisdom to understand who is behind this misinformation campaign, " a senior UNP spokesman said. 

The story claiming that Wickremesinghe had promised the Finance Ministry and the UNP deputy leader's post to Karunanayake first appeared in a newspaper owned by a close associate of President Sirisena. 

The story surfaced while the UNP MPs were preparing to present a confidence motion in Parliament in support of Wickremesinghe on December 12. 

The UNP claims Wickremesinghe commands the support of 117 MPs in the House.