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Sri Lankan president to form national government if opposition wins August polls

Xinhua, July 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

The opposition United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) on Thursday reiterated that President Maithripala Sirisena will form a national government which will include all political parties if the opposition UPFA wins the August parliamentary elections.

Sirisena was made the chairman of the UPFA after he defeated former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a presidential poll in January.

Cabinet spokesperson and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) member, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne told journalists in capital Colombo that the president had already informed his decision to his party members including a group of UPFA members who defected from the party last week to contest the elections with the ruling United National Party (UNP) coalition.

"Although we will be contesting the elections with the UNP, the president hopes to form a national government which will include us and all other parties. We have the support of the president," Senaratne said.

However when questioned if former President Rajapaksa would be included in the national government, Senaratne said that the matter would be discussed with the president after the elections.

Rajapaksa was on Monday named as one of the UPFA candidates who will be contesting the Aug. 17 elections from the Kurunegala District in the North Western Province.

However, Sirisena in a special statement to media on Tuesday predicted that the former leader would be defeated and stated that Rajapaksa would lose the elections just as he lost the presidential polls in January. Endi