A senior political correspondent in Sri Lanka raised a question whether UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa has been taken hostage by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and a few others.

Commenting on Premadasa's press conference this morning, Chandani Kirinde, a senior political correspondent in Sri Lanka, tweeted, "I think he s been taken hostage by @MangalaLK & few others .. & for those high on conspiracy theories ( there are many such columnists) this could all be a ploy by @RW_UNP using is (ex) best buddies Malik& Kabir To derail @sajithpremadasa."

Premadasa was flanked by several Ministers including Samaraweera, Kabir Hashim and Malik Samarawickrema at the press conference this morning. The hurriedly-arranged press briefing was held at Samaraweera's official residence a Stanmore Crescent, Colombo 07.

Multiple UNP sources confirmed that Samaraweera, a senior politician with shifting loyalties, has become one of the main architects of Premadasa's presidential bid.

Another journalist who covered the press conference expressed frustration over Premadasa's apparent ambivalence on key policy matter such as the abolition of the Executive Presidency.

"For some absolute non-answers, those uh... pronouncements... were pretty revealing I thought. Almost worth the hours of sleep lost. Almost.," Himal Kotelawala, a journalist at Republic Next, tweeted, alluding to Premadasa's verbose and ambiguous responses to many questions raised by reporters.