Hirunika says she fled on advise

Western Provincial Council member Hirunika Premachandra says she fled the country together with her mother on the advise she had received following threats to her life.

Premachandra said in a statement that she began receiving threats after she decided to back common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential elections.

She said that Maithripala Sirisena and former Minister Rajitha Senaratne had advised her to go overseas for a few days and so she left with her mother and returned over the weekend.

Premachandra said that she has now resumed campaigning for Maithripala Sirisena despite the threats to her life.

She also said that false allegations are being raised by some websites claiming that she had gone overseas to deposit a bribe she had received for backing Sirisena.

While rejecting the allegations Premachandra said that she is ready to continue her fight for Sirisena despite the mud slinging campaign launched against her. (Colombo Gazette)

Doom - Boom Economy by Champika Ranawaka

Video of Intellectuals Forum at Solis Hall - Pata Kotte on the Launch of Book produced by Hon. MP Patali Champaka Ranawaka with the attendance of Hon. MP Maithripala Sirisena, Hon MP Rajitha Senaratne, Hon. MP Harsha de Silva & other distinguished guests. Watch from :- http://youtu.be/FK6B4I_Bj0Q?t=1h1m10s

UNP To Make Common Candidate Decision On Friday: Ranil- Karu- Maithripala Front-runners

From Asian Mirror - 20/11/2014

The United National party is to make a final decision on its presidential candidate on Friday, at a crucial working committee meeting, a senior spokesman of the party told Asian Mirror on Friday morning.

UNP Leader Ranil Wcickremesinghe, who is now back in the country after a brief foreign trip, has instructed General Secretary Tissa Attanayake to convene the Working Committee on Friday.

Three names have already been proposed as potential presidential candidates of the party. They are UNP National Leader Ranil Wickemesinghe, Leadership Council Chairman Karu Jayasuriya and SLFP General Secretary and Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena.

The UNP is considering Minister Sirisena as a front-runner under the assumption that he might cross over to the opposition at the last moment. However, the Minister is still with the government and his possible crossover still hands in the balance, highly placed political sources said. Even yesterday, the Minister was seen at Temple Trees, sharing light moments with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and several other senior members of the ruling party.

Therefore, it is still not entirely clear whether the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party will make a decision that will be a huge political gamble.  

Meanwhile, the majority of the Parliamentary group of the party are of the view that Karu Jayasuriya should be named as a presidential candidate of the party. When ‘Asian Mirror’ spoke to Jayasuriya yesterday evening, the senior Parliamentarian said he was not aware of any move to name him as the presidential candidate of the main opposition party.

Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga whose name was earlier mentioned as a potential common candidate of the opposition is now out of the race due to legal barriers. CBK’s legal impediments arose with the opinion given by the Supreme Court pertaining to the third term of President Mahinda Rajapaksa- which was not made public by the government.