Wickremesinghe backed by grand alliance of over 30 parties in Sri Lanka's presidential poll

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the front runner in the presidential poll scheduled for next month, was on Friday endorsed by a grand coalition of over 30 political parties and groups.

This comes after Wickremesinghe, 75, announced himself as the independent candidate on Thursday by handing over nominations to contest the September 21 presidential election.

Wickremesinghe, the leader of the now decimated grand old party, the United National Party (UNP), is backed by the Rajapaksa family breakaways from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

Wickremesinghe was elected as the stop-gap president after then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was ousted in a popular uprising following his inability to handle the country’s unprecedented economic crisis that led to a shortage of essential commodities.

The SLPP of the Rajapaksas provided Wickremesinghe with parliamentary support to become the president but did not approve of the incumbent president's hard reforms to revive the bankrupt economy.

The SLPP has fielded the heir apparent of the dynasty Namal Rajapaksa, 38, against him.

Wickremesinghe, who initiated a hard reform programme led by the International Monetary Fund, took upon reviving the economy with the support from his SLPP-dominated cabinet.

“I'm thankful to those who supported me to handle this difficult task. They did not run away when challenged to perform the responsibilities of the country," Wickremesinghe, also the finance minister, said.

Wickremesinghe, since being elected, implemented hard economic reforms as necessitated by the IMF to secure a bail-out of nearly USD 3 billion over four years.

His hard reforms brought in stability although the opposition said the economic hardships caused by the IMF deal had left the public in the lurch.

The opposition has vowed to renegotiate the IMF programme to provide relief to the public.

Wickremesinghe’s main rivals are once his deputy Sajith Premadasa and the leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

There have been several individuals who changed loyalties to Wickremesinghe and Premadasa and vice versa since the election was announced by the island nation's independent election commission.