UNP accepts people’s verdict: Vajira

• Acknowledges serious defeat but says no decision on leadership change 
• Says party will restructure and continue 
• Denies split with SJB contributed to disappointing result 

The United National Party (UNP) yesterday said they accepted the verdict of the people, and would take necessary measures to restructure the party and emerge stronger at future elections.

Vajira Abeywardena

Speaking to reporters in Galle, former Parliamentarian and senior UNP member Vajira Abeywardena said the public had placed their trust in the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), and as a party they would accept the verdict of the people. 

This was the first time that UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe lost his seat since 1977. 

“The Government has clearly won the election. It shows that the public has placed their trust in the Government’s hands. Even if we collect votes of all other parties, the Government has taken more votes than any of us,” he said, conceding defeat. 

He noted that the UNP will use this result as an opportunity to guide the party towards future reforms that will assist it to emerge stronger. According to Abeywardena, the internal rift within the UNP had not affected the overall election result.

“Even if we combined votes of our party and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, the Government still has more votes than us. This shows that the rift within the UNP was not as serious as people said. Therefore I do not see any logic behind the notion that it favoured the SLPP.”

Abeywardena said the party will have taken tougher actions to reform the party, but stopped short of confirming whether UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe would step down following the severe defeat. However, he acknowledged that talks on the UNP leadership were ongoing.

A significant group of UNPers formed a new party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), ahead of the General Election and contested separately. A majority of the UNP members of the last Parliament joined the SJB, and were among those who most severely criticised the UNP leadership.

The UNP recently expelled dozens of members, after its Working Committee affirmed a previous decision to terminate the membership of those who sought nominations from the SJB.