Sri Lanka’s main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa has announced that the Opposition will back the government’s proposal to hold the Presidential elections ahead of the scheduled timeframe. At the same time, he criticized the government’s attempt to manipulate the election process for its own convenience, calling it a violation of democracy.
Mr. Premadasa emphasized that planning the Presidential elections solely based on the directives of the President or his supporters is fundamentally flawed. He stressed the need for fair and transparent regulations to be put in place to ensure a prompt and democratic election.
The Opposition leader made the comments following a discussion with the SJB Executive Committee held today.
Presidential elections in Sri Lanka are scheduled to be held in 2024 and were last held in November 2019. Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the 2019 elections in a landslide victory, defeating his main opponent Sajith Premadasa. However, after the island nation got embroiled in an economic crisis, protesters ousted Gotabaya Rajapaksa who fled the country. Ranil Wickremesinghe was then elected the President for the remainder of the term.