UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha today said that common candidate Maithripala Sirisena does not represent a political party and therefore he is not “protected” by any sort of party constitution.

“In the face of internal hostilities, he cannot even go to court seeking justice,” the UPFA General Secretary said addressing a press conference in Colombo this afternoon. He also asserted that the vote-base of the UPFA was not affected by the SLFP General Secretary’s defection.

“So far, four parties have made deposits at the Elections Secretariat and all of them want to see the defeat of President Rajapaksa. This, in other words, means that they are indirectly supporting common candidate Maithripala Sirisena,” Premajayantha also added.

Referring to the common candidate’s symbol ‘swan’, the UPFA Secretary said it was the same symbol which reduced the JVP’s parliamentary seats to three from an all time high of 38. “We don’t know what will happen this time,” Premajayantha said.

“Despite the so called 100 day assurance,” he added, “Athuraliye Rathana Thera said in Polonnaruwa that Maithripala will serve in office for six years. There was some serious confusion at the outset.”

He also questioned the common opposition whether Rathana Thera was not present at the signing of the MOU yesterday due to that confusion.

“Before the commencement of his election campaign, the common candidate released a dove and it came back to the cage. This is suggestive of the fact that the former General Secretary will come back to the party – like all the other general secretaries who defected earlier.”

Meanwhile, addressing the press conference, Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena said ‘Chaura Rajina’, the book written by Victor Ivan, speaks volumes of the past conduct of the former President.

“If those allegations were wrong, the former President should have taken legal action,’ the Education Minister stated.

The press conference was also attended by UPFA Colombo District Parliamentarian Thilanga Sumathipala.