President Ranil Wickramasinghe has officially informed the United National Party today (4) that he will not participate in any voting activities in the local government elections.
The President who stated that he was given a mandate not to vote but to recover the country from the abyss it has fallen into within two years, has also emphasized to the UNP leaders that he is never ready to act outside of that mandate.
President Ranil Wickramasinghe informed this when senior leaders of the United National Party met in Colombo yesterday evening.
The President had told the UNP senior leadership that he is only ready to chair the UNP Working Committee in keeping with tradition if the UNP wants to decide on contesting the Local Government Election.
Apart from that, President Ranil Wickramasinghe has emphasized that he will not participate in any election work related to the local government elections.
The President also said that if the United National Party participates in the local government election, it is appropriate to put 40% of new faces in the list of candidates.
The President said that money has been allocated for the salaries and allowances of only four thousand members who are appointed to the local government bodies, including municipalities, city councils and local councils.
The President also said that the rest of the people should be informed whether they work for free without salaries and allowances.
