The ruling party's presidential candidate has got the support of fourteen different political parties, the state radio said here Friday.

Mahinda Rajapakse, the prime minister who is the candidate representing the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), has secured the support of five more parties in addition to the nine parties who are constituent parties of the ruling alliance, Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) said.

Rajapakse has clinched a deal with the all Buddhist Monk party (JHU), or the Heritage Party, in addition to support coming from the Marxist People's Liberation Front (JVP) who had walked out of the government in mid-June.

Rajapakse's pacts with the JVP and the JHU have met with criticism mainly from political parties representing the Tamil minority.

They claim that if elected to office with the hardline support, Rajapakse may be forced to take a confrontational approach rather than a conciliatory attitude towards the process aimed at solving the armed separatist conflict.

The pacts are critical of the ongoing Norwegian-backed peace process and the cease-fire in force since February 2002.

Source: Xinhua