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Saturday Dec 14, 2024
Tuesday, 6 August 2019 01:17 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said all efforts would be directed at forging a United National Party (UNP)-led coalition before the end of August to contest the upcoming Presidential Election and assured the UNP iswas aware that going solo would undermine its chances of winning the next polls.
Releasing a special statement on Monday, which was initially the date when the coalition was to be formally created, Wickremesinghe insisted the postponement of the formation of the Democratic National Front (DNF) was temporary. He also confirmed reports that amendment to the coalition’s constitution had been presented after the UNP Working Committee meeting last Thursday. Senior members will be considering how they can be woven into a version all parties could rubber stamp, the statement said. 
However, Wickremesinghe made no mention of the coalition parties’ request that the UNP determine a presidential candidate before the DNF is formed.
“New ideas were presented at the last meeting after the decision to form the Democratic National Alliance was made. We realised it was important to consider these views. Therefore we decided to take more time to finalise the constitution of the Democratic National Alliance. We have already decided to form the coalition before the end of August,” Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said in the statement.
Even though the formation of the DNF has been postponed, it will not hinder the day-to-day functions and activities of any party, Wickremesinghe noted, adding that the process to create the DNF would also not undermine individual party independence or their distinctive political ideologies.
“We will create a national policy framework for the Democratic National Front. Our future plans will be formed based on this policy framework.”
Wickremesinghe also acknowledged that election wins in the last decade had shown that coalition parties had more capacity to reach across vote bases than traditional single parties and as such forming a coalition was a sound strategy to face a national election.
“Anyone who has an understanding of recent political developments accepts that it is difficult to win a Presidential Election without a coalition. This is why in the past I have worked hard to find ways to build a broad coalition that can propel us towards victory. Neither I nor other party leaders will move away from this aim. We are determined to achieve our goal of winning the next Presidential Election through a coalition led by the UNP. Subsequently we will win the next Presidential Elections and move the entire country forward on a victorious path. We must all join in this task,” the statement added.
