Wickremesinghe draws MPs from opposition party for Sept polls, SLPP threatens action

COLOMBO: In a major boost to his re-election bid, President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday received support from the faction-ridden Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) for the September 21 presidential poll.

The Central Committee members of the SLFP met with President Wickremesinghe on Wednesday evening, and expressed their unwavering support for his victory in the presidential election, the President's Office said.

The move follows decisions made during meetings of the party’s Central Committee, Politburo, and Executive Council earlier today.

The development comes a day after nearly 90 MPs from the Sri Lanka People's Front (SLPP, also known locally by its popular Sinhalese name, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna), decided to support Wickremesinghe's bid for reelection even though the party run by the Rajapaksa family has threatened disciplinary action against them.

On Monday, the SLPP had decided not to back Wickremesinghe, and instead field its own candidate in the presidential election.

Wickremesinghe, 75, last week announced his candidacy as an independent.

At least two SLFP members are already ministers in the Wickremesinghe cabinet which comprises mainly SLPP members.

The SLFP, once the second largest party in the country, is embroiled in prolonged legal battles over its control.

Former president Maithripala Sirisena who led the party from 2015 until April this year has been restrained by a court order.

Nimal Siripala de Silva, the current Minister of Aviation, leads the party now.

Wickremesinghe, who wants to contest the presidency as an independent, seeks cross-party support for his candidacy.

He says all-party support was needed to revive the island's bankrupt economy by pursuing the reforms attached to the IMF bail out.

On Tuesday, Wickremesinghe in a Facebook post said he was grateful to those who aligned with him to work towards reviving the economy after Sri Lanka had gone bankrupt in 2022.

He thanked the others who later joined and welcomed those wanting to join him.

Wickremesinghe, who is also the finance minister, stressed that cross-party support was required to turn the island’s economy around based on the IMF-prescribed reforms.

In April 2022, Sri Lanka declared its first-ever sovereign default since gaining independence from Britain in 1948. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had made external debt restructuring conditional to the USD 2.9 billion bailout package, of which the third tranche was released to Sri Lanka in mid-June.

The opposition has vowed to revise the IMF programme and remained critical of Wickremesinghe for the financial burdens heaped on people by sticking to the IMF formula.