By

Waruni Karunarathne

Former Sri Lanka cricket captain and opposition MP Arjuna Ranatunga says he is ready to be the common opposition candidate for the next Presidential elections.

Ranatunga has already extended support to the campaign led by the leader of the People’s Movement for a Just Society, the Venerable Maduluwawe Sobitha thero. “My politics is based on the country’s requirement. If other parties and the public want me to be the common candidate, I will accept it.

If they believe I am the suitable candidate and if they request I will not hesitate to come forward for the country,” MP Ranatunga told The Sunday Leader.

He added that he has never worked expecting ranks or positions but has taken decisions for the country to protect its identity. According to him, presently the requirement of the country is to abolish the Executive Presidency and restore a democratic process.

He added that all the parties who have come forward to support a common candidate have a clear objective, that is to abolish the Executive Presidency, despite the fact that those parties have diverse views.

“Everybody may have their agendas. Whatever their personal or party agendas are, the main agenda of everybody right now is to direct the country in the right path. Under the Executive Presidency, the country is going astray. Therefore the main purpose of everybody is to change the system,” he stressed.

He added that some ministers of the Government are also supporting abolition of the Executive Presidency but are scared of coming out in public under the present circumstances.

Courtesy:The Sunday Leader