Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s name has been proposed as the national list nominee of the UNP nearly three and a half months after the Parliamentary election.

Informed party sources said the final decision with regard to the appointment would be made by he UNP Working Committee. However, the UNP Working Committee is under Wickremesinghe’s strong influence, as all the WC appointments are made by him at his sole discretion.

Multiple sources familiar with the matter confirmed that Wickremesinghe was the front-runner for the national list post, as his appointment will unify all the warring groups within the party.

“There is no agreement on the appointment of the national list nominee among the second-tier leaders of the party. The appointment of one person will antagonize others and we don’t have the luxury of leaving room for such divisions at this juncture. In this context, the former Prime Minister is the ideal candidate for the post, as no one will oppose his appointment,” a former UNP Parliamentarian who wished to remain anonymous told Asian Mirror.

However, Wickremesinghe earlier ruled out the possibility of appointing himself as the national list nominee of the party. It is now apparent that Wickremesinghe has changed his position with the UNP failing to make a final decision on the matter.

Wickremesinghe earlier indicated that he would step down from the party leadership towards the end of the year. When contacted, however, a senior spokesman of the party and a close ally of Wickremesinghe said there was no such move and Wickremesinghe would remain the party leader.

As a way of drawing “young blood” into the decision-making process of the party, Wickremesinghe has appointed his close relative, Ruwan Wijewardena, as the Deputy Leader of the UNP. The party reforms, which were promised after the catastrophic defeat at the last Parliamentary election, have been put on hold with a number of Local government members of the party aligning themselves with the Samagi Kana Balawegaya – the main opposition party led by former UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa.

The UNP, once the largest political party in the country, only managed to get 249,435 votes at the last Parliamentary election with a percentage of 2.15%. Although the party failed to secure a parliamentary seat from none of the electoral districts, but managed to win a single national list seat based on the final result of the election.