Former Minister Achala Jagoda has revealed that a recent survey conducted among United National Party (UNP) members shows a significant shift in support towards President Ranil Wickremesinghe in the upcoming presidential election. The survey, conducted through personal meetings with high-ranking UNP leaders and telephone interviews, indicates that a large number of traditional UNP supporters who had previously joined Sajith Premadasa’s Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) are now pledging their support to Wickremesinghe.
Jagoda stated that many of these UNP members had previously doubted Wickremesinghe’s ability to win and had seen him as an ineffective leader, which led them to support Premadasa during the formation of the SJB. However, they now believe that Wickremesinghe has proven his leadership by steering the country through an unprecedented economic crisis and rising to the presidency when no one else stepped forward.
According to Jagoda, the key issues that once drove UNP members to abandon their party and join the SJB have now been resolved. This shift in opinion could significantly impact the upcoming election.
In the last presidential election, Sajith Premadasa garnered 5.6 million votes, and the SJB, which he later founded, secured 2.7 million votes in the subsequent general election. These votes were largely considered as coming from traditional UNP supporters. Jagoda highlighted that 1.9 million people who voted in the presidential election did not vote in the general election, with around 500,000 votes attributed to Tamil parties such as the Tamil National Alliance. The remaining votes, Jagoda believes, still represent a core UNP voting base.
With many former UNP members reconsidering their support, Wickremesinghe’s position in the race could be stronger than previously anticipated.
