The ruling party candidate in Sri Lanka's impending presidential election has already formed a broader alliance of parties and organizations, his spokesman said Wednesday.

The Minister of Ports Mangala Samaraweera, who is the Campaign Co-ordinator for Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, told reporters here that Rajapakse had secured pledges of support from numerous political parties and organizations who would work for his victory.

Samaraweera dubbed the main opposition candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe an agent of foreign powers and reactionary forces and called upon all patriots to join hands to defeat Wickremesinghe.

Samaraweera spelt out Rajapakse's campaign theme of protecting the nation and said that the prime minister would not betray national interests.

Wickremesinghe's peace process with the Tamil Tigers was described by his rivals as a betrayal of the nation -- the theme in which they were able to defeat the Wickremesinghe government in April 2004 parliamentary election.

Source: Xinhua