Head of the UNP Media Unit and Matara District Parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera has taken the lead in setting up a cohesive, multi-party propaganda campaign for the common candidate of the opposition targeting the upcoming presidential election.

Asian Mirror, over the past few days, revealed that the campaign of the common candidate of the opposition is crippled – to a certain extent – due to lack of coordination on the part of the leaders of the opposition camp. After realizing this, Samaraweera has now initiated the process to launch a “multi-party” campaign with the support of every party who have signed the common opposition agreement.

This comes in the wake of the rally organized in Matara which was attended by UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, UNP Leadership Council Chairman Karu Jayasuriya, Arjuna Ranatunga and Rajitha Senaratne. A large number of opposition supporters gathered at the Uyanwatte stadium in Matara to support the campaign of Common Candidate Maithripala Sirisena.

The main opposition, according to highly placed party sources, is planning to intensify its propaganda campaign. In addition to the usual propaganda campaign of the common candidate, another broader front will be formed with the support all the political parties of the opposition to pressure the government to conduct fair elections and restore democracy in the country.

 An opposition spokesperson added that those who do not directly extend their support to Maithripala Sirisena’s campaign - such as the Janatha Vimukthi Permauna and the Tamil National Alliance - will also be stakeholders of this broader alliance.