Sri Lanka’s former Army Commander General Mahesh Senanayake joins Presidential race

Sri Lanka’s former Army Commander General Mahesh Senanayake on Sunday joined the Presidential race after being named candidate of the National People’s Movement (NPM).

The NPM is a collective of civil organizations and was created last year in order to promote national unity, achieve religious and ethnic harmony and reconciliation, develop a new political leadership and identify the most suitable individuals to lead the country.

It announced its candidate during a special summit held on Sunday at Colombo.

The movement said they decided upon the candidate to fulfill all Sri Lankans hopes with all the criteria that the presidential candidate must possess.

Speaking on the occasion, General Senanayake said that contesting at the Presidential election was a collective decision and it was not a personal decision.

He became the 22nd Commander of the Army in June 2017 and retired last month from nearly 38 years of service in Sri Lanka Army.