UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa had taken part in the protest rally organized by the common opposition  yesterday at the insistence of UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, sources close to the UNP leadership told Asian Mirror. 

The UNP leader had requested Premadasa to participate in the meeting and play an active role in the campaign against Executive Presidency. 

The ulterior motive of Wickremesinghe's move is to use Premadasa as a pressure factor to influence the common opposition to field Wickremesinghe as the presidential candidate. This is suggestive of the fact that Wickremasinghe has still not given up hopes to contest the forthcoming presidential election. 

Despite Wickremesinghe's personal wish, the majority of UNP Parliamentarians are of the view that the party should proceed with a common candidate. 

Premadasa is hell-bent on promoting Wickremesinghe's candidacy at the next election as he intends to become the party leader following the former's possible defeat. He vehemently opposed the idea of forming a common allianxe with other political parties of the opposition. But Wickremasinghe, on the other hand, is confident about a surprise victory vis-à-vis the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa. 

However, It looks as if the UNP Leader and the Deputy Leader are using each other at the moment for their own short term gains, without taking the bigger picture into consideration.