By Saman Indrajith

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s presidential campaign was primarily aimed at undermining the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa, according to MP Harsha de Silva.

Dr. de Silva told The Island that a significant number of Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s voters were former supporters of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. “This indicates that the majority of the floating vote shifted to President Dissanayake.”

Dr. de Silva said many Sri Lankans were disillusioned with established political parties, and the SJB had not been perceived as a new political force, despite being formed after the 2019 presidential election.

“Most of us are former UNP MPs, and people saw us as an extension of the establishment. They viewed Anura Kumara and his NPP as a break from tradition,” he said.

Dr. de Silva pointed out that during the 2020 general election, the NPP had garnered around 3% votes, securing three parliamentary seats. He noted that many believed they would not receive enough votes to defeat more established opponents.

Commenting on Wickremesinghe receiving over two million votes, De Silva observed that at least a million UNP voters had abstained from voting at the 2020 general election. However, Wickremesinghe’s presidency had re-energised those voters, he added.

“If we assess the ground reality, we were all part of the same group. In recent years, this group of voters has fluctuated between the UNP and the SJB. This time, the vote split, and Anura Kumara Dissanayake benefitted,” he said.

Dr. de Silva expressed hope that the two parties could reconcile their differences by 11 October. He revealed that several UNP and SJB stalwarts had attempted to bring the two sides together in the last three weeks.

“Many senior UNP figures have indicated they will not contest the general election, and I am confident that a significant number of UNPers will want to contest under the SJB. Whereelse would they contest? Under the ‘Gas Cylinder’ symbol? That worked only because of Ranil. No one will vote for the gas cylinder on 14 November. The SJB is more popular than the UNP, and its leader is running for Prime Minister. It is true that Premadasa set certain conditions for UNP supporters who wished to join the Samagi Jana Sandanaya,” Dr. de said.