By Rohana Jith

Consequent to the confidential meetings positive outcome in the formation of unprecedented alliance with opposition political parties and groups including around one hundred MPs comprising cross overs President Ranil Wickremesinghe is likely to announce his independent candidacy in the upcoming presidential poll.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe a shrewd tactician in local political chess game will not enter the arena until all arrangements are in place for his victory,

That is why he has stated recently that” his triumph will be the victory of the country”. In another meeting with a large number of youths, he noted that there is time to announce his candidacy.

At the beginning of the Chess game, it is the most vulnerable square for black since only the king protects it. The main tactic to win the game is to start building an attack on this square to increase the chances of frustrating and opponent and abetting them to make mistakes.

The best chess strategy is playing each piece one time to its best square, developing them all in turn, and getting chess pieces off the starting squares.

It is essential to get your pieces into the game rapidly, and posted where they can accomplish something - either aiding the attack or defense of the center

In that context President Wickremesinghe last Monday named a high-level committee of four to deal with social media, besides the mainstream media.

SLPP’s strategist Basil Rajapaksa is awaiting the president’s announcement of his candidature to endorse it and nominate billionaire businessman Dhammika Perera as the SLPP’s prime ministerial nominee.

President Wickremesighe will not make any attempt to extend his term of office for another years it is against the 19 th amendment of the constitution.

If he anticipates any weakness in his winning strategy he will definitely go for stalemate, official sources said. However his presidential election campaign is expected receive a major boost with the impending visit to Sri Lanka of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, either in July or August.

Another plus point for the president’s game plan was the International Monetary Fund (IMF) granting access to US$ 330 million from its Extended Fund Facility and the government’s putting the country’s economy on a firm footing.

The issue with external bondholders on debt restructuring proposal will also be resolved soon following the latest meeting with the country’s Official Creditor Committee next week.

As highlighted in our previous weekly ‘Wide Angle’ political review on the importance of North East to win presidential poll in a three cornered contest, two of the would-be candidates—Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake—have hurriedly visited the north for their campaign meetings pledging to implement the 13 th amendment to the constitution to the letter.

Anura Kumara toured the North this week but remained tight-lipped about his party’s stance on the key issues affecting Tamils in the North-East.

On his last leg of the tour, Dissanayake spoke in Jaffna, aligning himself with the NPP narrative of an “inclusive Sri Lankan identity”.

Throughout his speech, Dissanayake said that Sri Lanka needed political reform and blamed the economic crisis on corruption.

He claimed that Sinhala and Tamil leaders have used divisive politics to stoke tensions between the two communities but failed to comment on the ongoing issues such as militarisation, landgrabs or accountability and justice for Tamils in the homeland.

This has created wide spread criticism if nationalists and divergent dialogue among moderates like disturbed hornets’ nest by hitting it with stones.

Dissanayake has an economic policy problem. The JVP was founded on Marxist and socialist ideals. However, it seems the party is transforming.

People don’t hear the traditional virulent anti-capitalist rhetoric anymore. In US India, Sweden and now in London mainly for fund raising,he looked more capitalist than the right-wing industrialists.

Officially, the JVP is still a socialist political entity. Unless the Sri Lankan political culture has turned upside down with the aragalaya, a socialist party cannot win the presidency.

Sri Lanka has had a bitter experience with socialist experiments. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s socialist policies brought the country to its knees.

Even Gotabaya Rajapaksa was slowly moving the country towards a centralized and state-controlled economic system. He banned the importation of various goods and ordered farmers to use certain types of fertilizers. His policies culminated in a catastrophe.

Therefore, it is difficult to believe that most Sri Lankans would vote for a socialist government. Some minority groups, for example, the Muslim community, which benefited immensely from Jayewardene’s open market policies, would not vote for socialist candidates.

NPP leader turned JVP head comrade Anura Kumara Dissanayake seems to be attracting Sri Lanka expatriates in London at present

A lack of space has forced organizers to change the venue for the meeting between the leader of the National People's Power (NPP) Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the Sri Lankan community in the United Kingdom a senior finance ministry official now living in London said. .

He believes even another meeting hall chosen by them could not accommodate the expected audience.

Dissanayake is due to meet the Sri Lankans at 6.30 at Crystal Grand Hall (Sri Lanka Time) at 3 Bath Rd., Slough near London.An enthusiastic promotional campaign is expected to draw huge crowds from outstation areas too.

An estimated 200,000 first-time voters will be casting their votes in the upcoming presidential election, according to the Election Commission.

The new electoral register that will be used for the next presidential election will be available by next month, a spokesman of the Election Commission said.

Most of the cross section of youth who are first time voters believe that politicians do not often focus on the needs of young people when making decision

They reflected how young people seem more disillusioned with democracy and the political process than ever before.

It has been observed that voters often turn to the media in making decisions. It demonstrates how vote choice certainty can be raised and explores whether exposing voters to political information from a variety of media outlets could improve their comprehension of the facts.

However in the context of digital media, the effects may not always be consistent. Yet, voter certainty is higher among first-time voters more exposed to social media.