A total of 15 out of the 38 Presidential candidates have confirmed their participation in the debate to be organised by the March 12 Movement, it is learnt.

The March 12 Movement extended an open invitation recently to all 38 Presidential candidates to participate in a debate to discuss their policies. The debate, planned to be held in several stages, will be broadcast on television and social media platforms.

When contacted by The Daily Morning, Sudaraka Arthanayake of the March 12 Movement, who is coordinating the debate, said that 15 candidates have informed that they would attend the debate.

Among the candidates who have confirmed their participation are: Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, Namal Rajapaksa of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, President’s Counsel Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe of the National Democratic Front, Dilith Jayaweera of the Sri Lanka Communist Party, Nuwan Bopage of the People's Struggle Movement, Oshala Herath of the New Independent Front, Pani Wijesiriwardena of the Socialist Equality Party, Sarath Manamendra of the Nawa Sihala Urumaya Party, Anoj de Silva of the Democratic United National Front, Namal Rajapaksha of the Samabima Party, and Priyantha Wickramasinghe of the New Socialist Party, and independent candidates Roshan Ranasinghe, Pakiyaselvam Ariyanethiran, Mylvaganam Thilakarajah, and Sarath Keerthirathna.

The organisation of the said debate was first announced on 20 August, and initially met with criticism from several Presidential candidates such as Janaka Ratnayake of the United Lanka People's Party and Dr. Rajapakshe. They charged that the initial selection of only six candidates for the debate when there were 38 candidates was not fair, and caused serious injustice to the rest of the candidates. The March 12 Movement then announced that in consideration of the enthusiasm expressed by Presidential candidates, they would make an open invitation to all 38 candidates to take part in the debate.