The official launches of election manifestos of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Common Candidate Maithripala Sirisena has been delayed due to multiple reasons, sources from both parties told Asian Mirror on Monday.

The election manifesto of the Common Opposition was previously scheduled to be released on Wednesday (17). However, it has now been postponed till December 19. However, speaking to Asian Mirror, a strongman of the Common Opposition said the launch of the manifesto could be further delayed.

Certain quarters of the UNP think tank have raised concerns over some “populist” proposals in the final draft of the manifesto - that do not tally with the core message of the political campaign of the opposition.

According to highly placed political sources, there are various proposals on salary hikes to government servants, subsidies and other similar measures that dilute the core message of the opposition’s campaign. The release  of the manifesto was delayed as there were different schools of thought on the “populist inclusions” that pander to the sentiments of the ‘mass market’.

Meanwhile, the UPFA is expected to launch President Rajapaksa’s election manifesto on Monday (22). Political sources told Asian Mirror that the think-tank of the government was waiting for the opposition to come up with its manifesto first.

 The government’s election manifesto, Asian Mirror learns, is entirely based on subsidies and “2020” development goals of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. It also proposes to devise an entirely new constitution for the country, subtly avoiding questions over unfulfilled promises on abolition of Executive Presidency.