Former Minister and Leader of the National Freedom Front (NFF), Wimal Weerawansa, said yesterday (10) that his party would not contest the upcoming general election.Weerawansa said his party was doing so to ensure that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake would secure a majority in Parliament so that he could govern the country.

Weerawansa warned that both India and the United States would exert immense pressure on the President to implement agreements detrimental to national  interest, such as the 13th Amendment and the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

“The NFF, as a political organisation founded on anti-imperialism, believes that President Dissanayake should at least obtain a simple majority in the forthcoming general election. This will allow him to confront the challenges and pressures he faces without being swayed by external influences,” Weerawansa said.

Weerawansa also claimed that certain opposition parties, acting as imperialist agents, were keen to see Dissanayake fail. “They want him to become a ‘Second- Gotabaya. We will not be complicit in this,” he said.