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United National Front (UNF) presidential candidate Minister Sajith Premadasa says he is prepared to forego his salary and benefits if elected as President in order to address the increasing wealth disparity in the country.

Premadasa made this observation at a press conference held at the official residence of Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera yesterday.

“More than 45% of the population lives under a daily wage of Rs. 900. These people earn less than 30,000 a month. The Census and Statistics Department says a minimum of Rs.  55,000 is needed for food and non food expenses to run a family of four,” Premadasa observed.

He further noted that 55% of the national income was distributed among the richest 20% while only 5% of the national Income was distributed among the poorest 20%.

“I will contribute my own salary and benefits for this cause once elected as President,” Premadasa said, adding that his government would introduce target driven measures to eliminate such inequality and improve living standards of the people.

“Usually the poor and the oppressed see Sajith as the saviour. It will bring about a profound change in politics, society and in particular the voter base. That means Sajith will get an easy win in the race between "Sajith and Gota."

“When speaking about the oppressed, it does not only affect the Sinhalese. It also includes the people of the North and the Tea Estates. This is because those people are oppressed as well. For all of them, Sajith is an inspirational leader. Gota does not have this effect on them," he said.

“Gota has a different voter base. The advantage that Sajith has is his ability to attract voters from other voter bases apart from the UNP voter base," Ivan noted.

The President was represented by Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Ariyasinghe at the UN meeting.

The General Debate of the 74th session of the UNGA began on 24 September and ended yesterday (Monday).

A source at the Presidential Secretariat said the President’s Office had made all preparations for President Sirisena’s, visit but was informed at the last minute that he will not be participating.

Although the reason for the withdrawal was not known, the source believed that the President’s last minute withdrawal may have been triggered by the current political situation in the country.

If the President participated in the sessions he might be in New York at a time when the country’s political situation is at a very decisive stage.

If the President participated in the UNGA, it would have been his last representation of Sri Lanka at the UNGA prior to ending his term as President.

Rajapaksa has sought approval from the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar to travel to Singapore from October 9-12.

The Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar has imposed an overseas travel ban on Rajapaksa over an ongoing case.

Meanwhile, a writ application filed before the Court of Appeal by two civil society activists are to be taken for consideration today and tomorrow.

Rajapaksa’s maiden election rally is to be held on the 9th in Anuradhapura, which is the same day he has requested to travel overseas.

They decided to call off the fast when several pledges including a lifetime pension scheme equal to the salary were promised by Rajapaksa to be fulfilled under a future government.

Interestingly, Rajapaksa’s visit to the venue of the fast came soon after United National Party (UNP) presidential candidate, Minister Sajith Premadasa visited the protesting war heroes and pledged that he will stand for their grievances and discuss the matter at the Cabinet meeting.

The war heroes agreed and welcomed Premadasa’s initiative.

Soon afterwards, Rajapaksa loyalist MP Arundika Fernando arrived at the venue and said Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa would speak on their behalf and would visit them in a few days. Nevertheless, seeing the impact Premadasa’s visit had on the war heroes, the MP informed the situation to his party leaders and Opposition Leader Rajapaksa made his way to the protesters a few minutes later.

Rajapaksa immediately pledged to address their grievances under a future government and gave water to the protesters and called for an end to the fast.

However, Premadasa said at an event yesterday evening that the Rajapaksas were agitated by his visit and decided to call an end to the fast that was initiated by them since addressing the issues Premadasa would have otherwise received the merit for addressing the protesters’ issues.

“All that only went to show who was really behind the protests,” Premadasa said.

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal to submit a Vote on Account for the first four months of 2020.

The Vote on Account as opposed to a full budget will be presented as a Presidential election will take place on 16th November 2019.

The Vote on Account will cover state expenditure from 01.01.2020 to 30.04.2020 after which a full budget will be presented by the new government appointed following the presidential election.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Central Committee (CC) that met last night ended without reaching a final decision on the party stance at the upcoming presidential election and the common symbol for the proposed alliance between the SLFP and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

The meeting was convened at 7 pm last night under the patronage of party leader, President Maithripala Sirisena.

SLFP Spokesperson, MP Weerakumara Dissanayake said the meeting ended with no agreement on the symbol that will be used if the party was to support the SLPP presidential candidate.

Dissanayake said the final decision on the matter would be discussed at a special Central Committee to be held on October 5.    

Talks between the SLFP and SLPP on forming an alliance have been stalled due to a stalemate in the issue of the alliance symbol. The SLPP maintains that the alliance symbol should be the SLPP’s “pohottuwa” (flower bud) symbol while the SLFP claims the party cannot be part of an alliance under the SLPP symbol and that the alliance should opt for a common symbol.

Basil’s meeting

Meanwhile, a few hours before the SLFP Central Committee meeting, SLPP National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa met with President Sirisena for a last minute discussion before the party’s decision making body met to decide on the SLFP’s stance.

It is learnt that Basil had pleaded with Sirisena to support the SLPP and its candidate, Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The President has once again reiterated that the SLFP would not form a political alliance under the “pohottuwa” symbol.

However, Basil has said that since the SLPP has already paid the deposit for its candidate at the Elections Commission, the party was helpless.

Sirisena has then responded saying that he could not say anything since the SLPP had paid the deposit based on a unilateral decision without even mentioning it to the SLFP when the parties were engaged in talks to form an alliance.

The discussion has ended afterwards with Basil making yet another request for the President to reconsider since the two parties could opt for a common symbol at the general elections.

However, sources at the Presidential Secretariat said the President is now looking at the latest political development following the court case challenging Gotabaya’s citizenship. Hence, the President is looking at the next options in the event Gotabaya is unable to contest at the upcoming presidential election.

UNP-SLFP talks

Meanwhile, the United National Party (UNP) has sought a meeting with the SLFP for a discussion on the current political situation and the possibility of forming an alliance.

Sources at the Presidential Secretariat said that the President was likely to let the SLFP hold a discussion with the UNP.

However, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) pesidential candidate Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is yet to confirm his attendance at the “Presidential Election 2019—Public Platform” scheduled on 5 October at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium.

The event will host the top presidential candidates on a single platform to answer five pre-selected questions on a wide range of issues, from national security to the economy and women’s rights and representation.

The Magistrate released the suspect on a surety bail of Rs 200,000.