SLFP officially announces:

Mahinda SLFP Presidential candidate; Anura Prime Ministerial nominee

BY ROHAN Mathes

CABINET Spokesman Nimal Siripala de Silva yesterday officially announced the unanimous decision of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party's (SLFP) Central Committee to recommend Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse as the SLFP candidate for the 2006 Presidential Election.

Minister Siripala de Silva told journalists that despite the adverse media publicity and speculation created by the UNP during the last three to four months, the SLFP Central Committee, on the recommendation of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse as party candidate.

"The SLFP Central Committee has endorsed this unanimously," he said.

Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike has been nominated as the prime ministerial candidate.

President Kumaratunga had declared that she herself will lead the polls campaign and Minister Bandaranaike too, will play a vibrant role to defeat the UNP candidate, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

A committee was earlier appointed by the SLFP Central Committee to look into the modalities and the election campaign. The committee, headed by the President, met on Tuesday to discuss the issues and President Kumaratunga was given the powers to endorse her choice and her wishes.

"She wanted the Central Committee to discuss and announce this. It was also her wish that Rajapakse should be the Presidential Candidate of the SLFP," Minister de Silva stressed.

He appealed to all patriotic forces to join hands and rally round them to defeat Wickremesinghe and make Rajapakse the next President.

"All the media speculation and their rigorous campaign to show divisions within the SLFP, has now been destroyed," he added.