President Maithripala Sirisena should stand for re-election for a second term as he is the "only candidate" who can win majority of Sri Lanka's nearly 27 per cent "minority votes", a senior Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) leader has said after a central committee meeting.
"SLFP central committee at a meeting held recently has decided that party leader Sirisena should contest the next presidential election in 2020," Minister of Special Assignments Dr Sarath Amunugama said yesterday.
"There is 27 per cent minority votes in Sri Lanka and the party's belief is that President Sirisena is the only candidate who can win a majority of those votes," he said.
However, the 65-year-old President, who defeated Lankan strong-man Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2015 ending his two-term-long controversial presidency that saw LTTE's final defeat, has not expressed any views on the party's decision to field him for a second term.
Meanwhile, SLFP general secretary and the minister of Agriculture Duminda Dissanayake while addressing a rally in the north central town of Anuradhapura today, also requested the President to run for a second term.
"President Sirisena, will be the most suitable to lead the party to victory both in the next presidential and parliamentary elections," Dissanayake said.
He said former President Rajapaksa's political journey would not take him anywhere further.
The former 71-year-old President is constitutionally barred from running again for presidency.
After his victory as Opposition's joint candidate in 2015 general elections, Sirisena has pledged that he would not run for office for a second term.
Upon taking oath, he has repeated that he would be a single-term President with a strict reform agenda to set in.
However, within a few days of being elected, Sirisena was thrust with the SLFP leadership by Rajapaksa, who has earlier sacked him from the party when he had challenged him in the election by becoming then Opposition-backed candidate.
Sirisena currently leads the unity government jointly with the leader of the SLFP's arch-rival, United National Party (UNP). UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is the current Prime Minister.
Both parties have pledged to contest elections separately despite being together in government.
Sri Lanka has a significant minority, comprising of Hindus, Muslims, Christians and ethnic Tamils.
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