LANKALIBRARY FORUM

09 August, 2005 - Published 16:41 GMT

JHU to field presidential candidate


BBC Sinhala

Sri Lanka’s all-monk political party Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) has decided to field their own candidate in the forthcoming presidential elections.

JHU Central Committee on Tuesday has decided to name the candidate after the elections commissioner announces the date of the elections.

JHU leader Ellawala Medhananda thero told BBC Sinhala website (BBC Sandeshaya) that the option is still open to field a common candidate if the government’s former coalition partner Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) agreed to it even at the last moment.

The Sinhala nationalist Buddhist party is yet to decide whether the candidate will be a Buddhist monk or a lay member.

JHU may still support Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, Medhananda thero said, provided the PM gave a written assurance that the party’s ‘panchasheela’ (five precepts) policy be honoured during his term.