Sajith wants UNP to accept SF unconditionally

by Dasun Edirisinghe

Former Army Commander Gen. Sarath Fonseka would soon join the UNP to help it topple the Rajapaksa administration, UNP parliamentarian and deputy leader Sajith Premadasa said yesterday.

Addressing the media in Colombo, the Hambantota District MP said that the party must welcome the war hero without setting pre-conditions, which could jeopardise the chances of the former presidential candidate throwing his  weight behind the ongoing UNP campaign. "We should give him a suitable post in the party," Premadasa said.

He was responding to UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake’s assertion that if Gen. Fonseka wished to join the UNP, he would have to disband the Democratic National Alliance (DNA). Attanayake also said that anyone wanting to join the UNP would have to follow accepted procedures.

Responding to a query, Premadasa emphasized that Gen. Fonseka shouldn’t be subject to such rules. He said that he fully supported efforts to get Gen. Fonseka to join the UNP.

Premadasa said that he would launch a campaign for the North-Central, Sabaragamuwa and Eastern Provincial Council elections with party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe soon after the party handed over the nominations.

"We have the strength to contest the forthcoming elections as a single party," Premadasa, a member of the UNP nomination board, said.

Responding to another query, the he stressed the importance of sinking whatever differences there were among them to work towards one goal.