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The UNP hierarchy is set to appoint Rukman Senanayake as its new chairman following weeks of negotiations, party insiders said yesterday.

No one in the party was willing to confirm this, but Mr. Senanayake himself confirmed that there were moves in this direction.

Neither Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe nor Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya was available for comment.

According to insiders, consensus has been reached in appointing Rukman Senanayake as party chairman, replacing Malik Samarawickrama. They said Senanayake's name is likely to be proposed at Tuesday's Working Committee meeting.

A grandson of the country's first Prime Minister, D.S. Senanayake, the Kegalle MP came into Parliament first in 1973 following a bitterly contested by-election for Dedigama after the death of his uncle, and four-times Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake.Were he to become party chairman, the proposed post of Executive Chairman mooted as part of party reforms in the immediate aftermath of the Presidential election defeat last November would be dropped and the existing office of chairman would remain in force.

Meanwhile, several other posts are also expected to be confirmed at Tuesday's meeting. These include the addition of four more Vice Presidents, a new Secretary (Tissa Attanayake), and a new Additional Secretary.

Former SLFP General Secretary and one-time Samurdhi Minister S.B. Dissanayake is expected to be confirmed as the party's National Organiser.

Party Leader Wickremesinghe is scheduled to visit Britain for several weeks after the Working Committee meeting where electoral organisers are also expected to be confirmed.