SLPP MPs Defy Party, Back Wickremesinghe's Reelection Bid

At least 75 MPs from Sri Lanka's People's Front party have pledged support for President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s reelection bid, despite party leadership's opposition and threats of disciplinary action. Following economic turmoil and disruption within the SLPP, the president continues to gather cross-party support to revive the broken economy.

At least 75 MPs from the SLPP party have backed President Ranil Wickremesinghe's bid for reelection in the September 21 presidential poll, even though the party run by the Rajapaksa family has threatened disciplinary action against them, it emerged on Tuesday.

This development comes a day after the Sri Lanka People's Front (SLPP, also known locally by its popular Sinhalese name, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna), decided not to back President Wickremesinghe, and instead field its own candidate in the presidential election. Wickremesinghe, 75, last week announced his candidacy as an independent.

Sagara Kariyawasam, the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, announced on Monday that the SLPP's Politburo decided to field their own candidate under their symbol of the flower bud.

SLPP has been in disarray with several breakaways since former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's younger brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa was ousted after the 2022 popular uprising over his inability to tackle the economic crisis and had backed Wickremesinghe in parliament to become president.

Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon, the state minister of defence, was the first to declare his support for Wickremesinghe for president, irrespective of the party's decision.

After the SLPP's announcement, an extended group of SLPP MPs visited Wickremesinghe to pledge their support, defying the party line. "We have over 75 SLPP MPs in our group to support the president," Premanath C Dolewatta, a SLPP MP, confirmed.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Wickremesinghe in a Facebook post expressed gratitude to those who aligned with him to work towards reviving the economy after Sri Lanka went bankrupt in 2022. He thanked the others who later joined and welcomed those willing to join him.

Wickremesinghe, who is also the finance minister, stressed that cross-party support was required to turn the island's economy around based on the IMF-prescribed reforms.

In April 2022, Sri Lanka declared its first-ever sovereign default since gaining independence from Britain in 1948. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had made external debt restructuring conditional to the USD 2.9 billion bailout package, of which the third tranche was released to Sri Lanka in mid-June.

The opposition has vowed to revise the IMF programme and remained critical of Wickremesinghe for the financial burdens heaped on people by adhering to the IMF formula.

(With inputs from agencies.)