Dayasiri calls for consensus among Opp ahead of PC polls

Kurunegala District SJB lawmaker Dayasiri Jayasekera yesterday (22) said that the Opposition should contest the upcoming Provincial Council elections as a common alliance.

- SHAMINDRA FERDINANDO

MP Jayasekera emphasised that those genuinely interested in thwarting the NPP government efforts to suppress the Opposition should be ready to make whatever sacrifices to reach a consensus as soon as possible.

Jayasekera stressed the need to agree on chief ministerial candidates at provinces where the grouping intended to contest.

The former Minister said so when The Island asked him whether the Opposition was ready to move beyond the declarations made at the UNP's 79th annual convention, held over the last weekend at Monarch, Imperial Jayewardenapura, Battaramulla.

Sri The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) that won 145 seats at the 2020 parliamentary election, too, was represented by its General Secretary and Attorney-at-Law Sagara Kariyawasam.

The SLPPhas been reduced to just three members in the current Parliament.

Former ministers Patali Champika Ranawaka and Udaya Gammanpila were also present.

MP Jayasekera said that if Opposition political parties failed to reach an agreement, they would have to face the consequences. Accusing the NPP of dragging its feet as it feared to face the electorate, due to declining popularity, MP Jayasekera said that the main Opposition SJB and the UNP have major roles to play in forming the alliance.