Sri Lanka's former Army chief Sarath Fonseka announces presidential candidacy

Colombo: Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka's former Army chief and the architect of the military offensive that led to the annihilation of the LTTE, on Thursday formally declared his candidacy for the upcoming Presidential election with a vow to crush corruption and boost the economy.

The presidential election in Sri Lanka will be conducted between September 17 and October 16. The date of the election will be announced on Friday.

"I wish to announce my candidacy for the Presidency to the people of Sri Lanka," Fonseka said in a post X.

Announcement:

I wish to announce my Presidential Candidacy to the people of Sri Lanka.

For 76 years, we have been led by an inept political group that has led us to bankruptcy.

For Sri Lanka to grow, we need to #CrushCorruption

We need to leverage our natural resources to…

— Sarath Fonseka (@SF2024_SL) July 24, 2024

"For 76 years, we have been led by an inept political group that has driven us to bankruptcy. For Sri Lanka to grow, we need to crush corruption. We need to leverage our natural resources to boost income generation. This is my formal and official announcement as the Presidential candidate of Sri Lanka for the 2024 Presidential election," he said.

Fonseka, who defeated the LTTE’s separatist campaign to create a Tamil state, was the opposition's main challenger in the 2010 presidential election against the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa. He suffered a crushing defeat then.

Fonseka, 73, said he was inviting all Sri Lankans to make the forward march to make the island a corruption-free nation.

Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe also announced his candidacy for the election.

“This election would be crucial for the nation’s future”, Rajapakshe said making a statement. He said he would continue to hold his ministerial job while announcing his candidacy.

Already the main opposition leader - Sajith Premadasa and the Marxist JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake - have said they would be contestants.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe will also be seeking re-election.

The Elections Commission announced on Friday that the date for the presidential election will be declared on Friday.

The Commission said that it holds no responsibility for remarks made by various individuals and parties on the day of the presidential poll, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.