Nominations for Presidential successor received.

  Secretary-General of Parliament today received nominations to elect a successor to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapksa on July 14. There are two front runners Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Dullas Allahpperuma. Allahpperuma announced that he would sit as an independent parliamentarian. Especially after May 9 incidents at the Galle Face Green Struggle gained momentumAllahapperuma made this decision. Sajith and Dullas had a meeting yesterday where they agreed to share the Premiership and the Presidency, respectively. All SJB stalwarts and a section of the SLPP that attended the final round of discussions camouflaged the actual outcome and said they are yet to reach an agreement. Premadasa, while on his way to Parliament, this morning tweeted that he would take a crucial decision for the betterment of the motherland. As the Secretary-General read out the notice to receive nominations, Premadasa proposed Dullas Allahapperuma as the candidate representing the SJB, and the Chairman of the SLPP G.L Peris seconded the nomination representing a section of the SLPP. Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardene(SLPP) proposed Acting President Ranil Wickrkemsinghe as their candidate, and the SJB MP Manusha Nanayakkara seconded to the dismay of many SJB members. A third name also came into the fray. Thus Anura Kumara Dissanayake became the third candidate, proposed by Vijitha Herath and seconded by Harini Amarasuriya. The guessing game is now in progress, while horse-trading is underway to decide on the next President.