The UNP’s Political Affairs Committee on Friday decided that any candidate to be fielded at the next presidential election under an alliance would have to be a UNPer.

It was also decided to negotiate with other political parties to form a common front to contest the forthcoming elections.

UNP’s Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya told The Sunday Leader that the UNP has formed a committee to draft a set of proposals to commence discussions with other political parties interested in forming a joint alliance.

However, Jayasuriya said it was too early to speak of a possible common candidate who would contest the next presidential election under a common alliance.

SLFP (M) Wing Convener Mangala Samaraweera meanwhile told The Sunday Leader that he was awaiting a response from the UNP with regard to the formation of a joint alliance.

"We — the SLFP (M) Wing, SLMC, DPF and civil society — have already submitted a set of proposals to the UNP. It is now up to the UNP to decide whether to go ahead with it," he said.

With regard to a name for the alliance, Samaraweera said although there have been several names that have been mentioned, a name would be decided only after all parties agree on the formation of the alliance.

As for the common candidate to contest the next presidential election, he said there was agreement amongst all interested parties to form an alliance that whoever the candidate is, he/she should have the approval of the UNP, as it would be the main party in the alliance.

However, Samaraweera said deciding on a common candidate would be a secondary matter as the most immediate step if an alliance is formed would be to launch an island wide re-organisation campaign to get the UNP’s election machinery back on track.