Off the wire
• Roundup: Greek parliament authorizes gov't to negotiate debt deal proposal  • Urgent: Eurogroup says receiving assessment of Greek bailout proposal  • Vietnamese player reaches first Wimbledon boys' doubles semis  • 2017 Winter Universiade adds three new sports  • Clearer picture on possible cause of MH17 crash: Malaysian PM  • 1st LD: Explosion at Italian consulate in Cairo kills one, injures four  • 1st Ld: Typhoon Chan-Hom moves slower, wreaks havoc in E China  • FARC rebels kill two soldiers in Colombia's southern region  • Feature: With real rain, musical Singin' in the Rain debuts in Singapore  • Urgent: Explosion at Italian consulate in Cairo kills one, injures four  
You are here: 　 Home

Sri Lanka's main opposition confident of polls victory despite defection

Xinhua, July 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

i Lanka's main opposition confident of polls victory despite defection

COLOMBO, July 11 (Xinhua) - Sri Lanka's main opposition on Saturday said that it was confident of winning the parliamentary elections scheduled to be held in the island nation next month despite a group of opposition members defecting from the party to join the ruling United National Party (UNP).

Opposition United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) member Dinesh Gunewardena told Xinhua that despite reports that an alliance was to be formed between the defected group, the UNP and Sri Lanka's main Buddhist party, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), the opposition, which included former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, was confident of forming a new UPFA government after the August 17 elections.

"Anyone breaking away from the party will not be able to prevent a UPFA victory," he said.

Several Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) members who belong to the UPFA alliance on Friday said they will support the UNP while the JHU and Sri Lanka's main Muslim party, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) said they too will contest next month's election under the UNP ticket. Endi