The crucial meeting of the Central Committee of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party to canvass the views of its party seniors in relation to which election, Parliamentary or Presidential, should be held first will be convened at Temple Trees at 7.00 p.m. today, Vice President of the SLFP and Governor of the Western Province Alavi Mowlana said yesterday.

The veteran Trade Unionist said the UNP still cannot get together an Alliance of even four political parties. They are talking of two Saraths as common Presidential candidates. The working class would ensure that the UPFA received the required 2/3rd majority’.

Administrative Secretary of the SLFP, S. H. Ariyasena, said that the meeting was earlier scheduled for Monday, but was postponed indefinitely as President Mahinda Rajapaksa was away from Colombo. The 65 members of the CC will meet tomorrow after the Cabinet meeting.

Informed Party sources said that it was most likely that the President as Leader of the SLFP would call for a Presidential Election at the 58th anniversary of the SLFP to be held at the Sugathadasa Stadium on November 15, 2009.

They said that the President would ask all electoral organizers to prove themselves at a Presidential Election if they were to be nominated as candidates at the next Parliamentary elections after April 15, 2010.

It was only last Friday that President Rajapaksa met with Leaders of Constituent Parties in the UPFA - MEP Leader Dinesh Gunawardena, Communist Party Dew Gunasekera, LSSP Prof Tissa Vitharna, UNP Democratic Group M. H. Mohamed, All Ceylon Muslim Congress Rischard A. Badhuideen, Muslim National Congress A. L. M. Athaullah, Ceylon Workers Congress Arumugam Thondaman and consulted them on which election should be held first and the unanimous reply was "you are a more experienced leader, have any election whichever you want and you are sure to be victorious getting the required 2/3rd majority".

Following the victory at the Southern Provincial Elections on October 11, the President convened a meeting of all electoral Organizers of the SLFP at Temple Trees and consulted them and requested all to commence preparations at grass root level for any election that may come first, Party sources said yesterday.