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UNP Grand Alliance in the Making
The UNP is working hard to canvass support for the “grand alliance” to support Ranil Wickremesinghe’s presidential candidature. Wickremesinghe has contacted Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) leader Sivagnanam Sritharan, who is considered a hardliner.
Ranil Wickremesinghe congratulated Sritharan from Switzerland as soon as he was elected to the leadership of ITAK. Later, the two of them discussed matters in more detail. There is mounting pressure on Sritharan to contest the presidential election to make a point about the issues faced by the Tamil community. Undoubtedly, such a move will cut into the UNP vote bank, and Ranil Wickremesinghe will do everything to stop such a move. However, there is a question of how popular Tamil politicians are among their own community. Traditionally, Tamil voters have voted for Sinhala politicians of the main political parties, i.e., the UNP and SLFP.
