Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the President and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister would be the best leadership combination for Sri Lanka, political analyst and former diplomat Dayan Jayatilleke said.

"I think that Mahinda as PM and Gota as President is the best possible leadership combination the country could have in the foreseeable future— though I must admit that I hope Kumara Gunaratnam can make it and usher in a progressive and socially just Sri Lanka devoid of racism and religious chauvinism, turning this island peacefully into the Cuba of Asia, within my lifetim," he said, in a newspaper article yesterday. 

"Bottom line: Ranil has never ever won a presidential election, and judging by the official SLFP’s stance he isn’t going to be able to abolish the presidency either. So, come December 2019 it’ll be a Presidential election, MR cannot contest, and if it is RANIL vs. GOTA who do you think is gonna win? Would Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu’s CPA dare to do a public opinion poll" the political activist questioned.

"People can change for the better and the worse. Gota has changed for the better but even at his worst, he was and is better than Ranil Wickremesinghe, the man who, according to ex-Sandhurst instructor Prof. Paul Moorcraft’s book, called off a Special Forces LRRP hit on Prabhakaran and is therefore responsible for every life and limb lost in the war since that moment!" Jayatilleke, an ardent supporter of the Rakapaksa political campaign, said, in his article.