UNP Parliamentarian Saman Rathnapriya has charged that while Sajith Premadasa was in the UNP, his ambition had been to grab leadership. He didn’t strive for the party’s victory.

He made this observation while addressing a group of UNP Local Government representatives at a hotel in Ketandola, Ratnapura on Wednesday. The meeting was organized by former Nivithigala PS Chairman Ananda Rathnayake.

Rathnapriya said: “Sajith Premadasa left the party because he failed to become the leader of the party. A group of senior UNP members who defied the party leadership have already expressed their willingness to re-join the UNP. A united force is a must for victory at the next election and division will only lead to defeat.

The people have already felt the absence of our party leader Ranil Wickremasinghe in Parliament. The shortcomings among us need to be rectified if we actually want to tread on the path of victory.”