In the wake of the public meeting against Executive Presidency which was attended by representatives of all major political parties, the United National Party has now deviated from its previous stance on fielding a common opposition candidate at the next Presidential election.

Media reports earlier stated that the United National Party had decided to field its National Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as its Presidential Candidate at the forthcoming election without supporting candidates fielded by other parties.

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Speaking to Asian Mirror, a senior spokesman of the United National Party said the party is now having various internal discussions on forming a common opposition alliance to face the next Presidential election.

The public meeting, which was organized by the Movement for a Just Society led by Maduluwawe Sobhitha, saw the participation of all major political parties of the opposition including the United National Party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, Democratic Party and the Tamil National Alliance.

When asked about the party’s previous decision, the spokesman said the party never announced that Ranil Wickremesinghe would be its presidential candidate at the forthcoming election. He said the party never confirmed or denied media reports in this regard.

He said the UNP was not in a hurry to announce the name of its presidential candidate.

He also added that the abolition of Executive Presidency will be a main rallying point for opposition political parties to unite at the next Presidential election. He said the party was discussing with representatives of other political parties on the next step of the struggle against the abolition of Executive Presidency.