Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka has announced that he will stand as a candidate in the upcoming presidential election.
Mr. Sarath Fonseka becomes the first to make a firm public statement that he will run for the presidential election this year.
However, he has not announced which party he is running for.
In 2010, Mr. Sarath Fonseka ran for the presidential election.
In that year, his strongest opponent was Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was already holding the title of President.
In that presidential election, Mr. Sarath Fonseka, who was the New Democratic Front candidate, got 40.15% of the total votes and was defeated. A number of major opposition parties, including the United National Party and the Janata Vimukthi Peramuna, had expressed their support to Mr. Sarath Fonseka.
According to the results, Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa who was the United People’s Freedom Alliance candidate won with 57.88%.
The remaining twenty candidates received a total of less than 0.5% of the popular vote.
Below is the announcement made by Mr. Sarath Fonseka that he will contest for the 2024 presidential election.
