Colombo: Refusing to give up efforts to forge a common opposition alliance for the April general election, the UNP has appealed to detained ex-Army chief Sarath Fonseka to soon formulate a response on its offer to contest the polls under the same arrangement that was followed during the Presidential vote.
Concerned that the ruling UPFA would have an upper edge in the polls in absence of unity among opposition parties, the United National Party (UNP) asked Fonseka to give his views on the matter soon.
Fonseka had contested the January 26 Presidential polls as a joint opposition candidate and was defeated by incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa.
"Our leader and the deputy leader met Gen Sarath Fonseka before he was arrested (earlier this month on conspiracy charges) and invited him to contest through the United National Front (alliance of opposition)," UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake told reporters.
"Then he (Fonseka) wanted some time to discuss it with other political organisations before arriving at a decision," he said yesterday.
"After he was arrested, we sent him (Fonseka) a message via his lawyer Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa asking him to give an answer in this regard. However, we are yet to receive that answer," the UNP leader said.
Attayakae said the main opposition party will decide its stance by taking Fonseka`s views into consideration. The UNP has formed its own alliance and so far Mangala Samaraweera, one of the spokesmen of Fonseka during the Presidential polls; Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) led by Rauff Hakeem and the Democratic People`s Front (DPF) headed by Mano Ganeshan have agreed to contest the April 8 Parliamentary Election under the UNP`s `Elephant` symbol.
The JVP, on the other hand, has formed a new political front named the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) and is also hoping that Fonseka would lead it. The front will contest the general election under the `Trophy` symbol.
It, however, is not clear yet whether Fonseka will be able to contest the Parliamentary Election.
Attanayake said the UNP is in favour of a united opposition campaign in the general election "to put an end to suppression that is existing in the country at present."
"We did not have an alliance during (the January 26) Presidential Election. But we had an agreement to make the common candidate Sarath Fonseka victorious. We organised a joint political venture for this purpose. It is because of this that we said that we are still open to discussions (for Parliamentary polls)," he said.
"We will try until the last moment to resolve any disagreements and bring all the political parties together," he said.
"The problem of symbol cannot create political disagreements. But we can carry out the political campaign on the same platform while contesting separately. That is what we did at the Presidential Election," the UNP General Secretary said.
"Therefore, it is not difficult (to forge a common opposition stance on Parliamentary polls as well). If there is a proposal we can consider it. This is because the government has initiated large scale suppression. Of all the people the UNP understands the need to go in for a joint campaign to put an end to this suppression," Attanayake said.
Acceptance of nominations for the general elections, the first to be held in the post LTTE-era, has commenced since Friday.
Nominations for the six-year term of Parliament are to be received till February 26 in all districts.
Of the 225 members in the Sri Lankan unicameral Parliament, 196 are directly elected from 22 multi-member electoral districts while the remaining 29 seats on the National List are allocated under the proportional representation system.
These 29 seats are allocated to the parties and independent candidates in proportion to their share of the national vote.
PTI
