Former UPFA General Secretary and Minister Susil Premajayantha says that if they had not contested the 2015 General Election as an alliance under the ‘Betel Leaf’ symbol, it would not have been possible to win 95 seats in the Parliament. 

If so Ranil Wickremesinghe would have been able to establish a UNP government alone with a clear majority, he said, addressing media after Minister Mahinda Amaraweera officially assumed duties as the UPFA General Secretary. 

The Minister of Science Technology and Research further said that during his tenure as UPFA general secretary nobody contributed to the party’s expenses and that only he and Anura Priyadharshana Yapa know about those expenses. 

Premajayantha said that he served as UPFA General Secretary under three leaders and that he never even used a short signature without informing the leaders. 

The minister said that as a lawyer he represented the alliance in 173 court cases and that he never charged the party for those services. He also said that he has no need for any positions. 

Premajayantha said that while life is not eternal one should be ready to give up posts knowing they would die one day. 

UPFA General Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera, who also addressed the event, said that everyone should unite to work under the alliance in order to form its own government in the future. 

He stated that there are no shortcuts to obtain power and that it is no easy task to come into power without doing so. 

Amaraweera said that whoever acts without thinking about the alliance coming to power is fulfilling a contract of the UNP.