Only beginning of political journey: MS

• NPM candidate says they are satisfied with result 
• Argue much achieved with little experience, funding 
• Plans already underway for robust campaign aimed at General Election 

National People's Movement (NPM) Presidential Candidate and former Army Commander Lt. Gen. (Rtd.) Mahesh Senanayake yesterday said the Presidential Election result was only the beginning for their civil society movement.

Despite the lower-than-expected showing, Senanayake told Daily FT "we are quite alright with the outcome and we are planning and preparing for the upcoming General Election". 

He stressed the movement was not an established political party and had only one month to campaign. "We are not politicians, we didn't have much funds and had very little media coverage," he argued, pointing out that even with the odds stacked against them, nearly 50,000 voted for the NPM. 

"We didn't do anything wrong. There are no election complaints levelled against us," he claimed, stating that the NPM's aim was to change the political culture and bring law and order to the county. 

In a statement issued yesterday, Senanayake congratulated President-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa and thanked all those who supported the NPM movement and voted for him. The statement urged supporters to rally together to meet the General Election and claimed that NPM will field highly professional candidates. 

"This is not the end but the beginning for us to change the political culture of the country," he opined.