The need of the hour is a parliamentary election and not provincial polls ahead of time, Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday.

Addressing former UNP councillors of the Sabaragamuwa and North Central Provincial Councils at his Cambridge Terrace office, Wickremesinghe said that the UNP will continue to agitate for a parliamentary election, because that is the best way to resolve the country’s pressing problems.

"Holding provincial polls before due date at an enormous cost to the tax payer would serve no purpose. What is required at this juncture is a parliamentary election."

Wickremesinghe, said that the UNP will continue to protest against government’s ill conceived policies and decisions."We will not hesitate to get on to the streets when the occasion demands."