Asian Mirror reliably learns that Western Provincial Council member Hirunika Premachandra and Minister Jeewan Kumaratunga has met common candidate of the opposition, Maithripala Sirisena, at his residence in Colombo and pledged to extend their support to him at the forthcoming presidential election.

Sources close to Sirisena’s family confirmed that the meeting between the two parties has been successful.

Premachandra, at a public meeting in Colombo a few days ago, slammed at the present government over many issues and dubbed Minister Sirisena as a clean and unblemished politician. She obtained the highest number of preferential votes and topped the UPFA list at the Western Provincial Council election.

Minister Kumaratunga is known to be a staunch supporter of the former President. Jeewan Kumaratunga is the nephew of the late Vijaya Kumaratunga, the former President’s husband who was killed by the JVP in 1988.

Kumaratunga’s daughter Malsha Kumaratunga is a member of the Western Provincial Council and she used the image of the former President throughout her election campaign early this year.

All our efforts to contact the Western Provincial Councilor Premachandra this morning did not bear fruit. This development comes just weeks ahead of the budget of the Western Provincial Council.

A spokesman of Minister Kumaratunga said the Minister had pledged to remain in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. “He started politics form the SLFP and he will retire from politics as a member of the SLFP. That is all I can say about the Minister’s viewpoint,” the spokesman added.

Even Maithripala Sirisena, common candidate of the opposition, still calls himself as a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.