this election is most probably "muttiya dammemak". It is successful. More elections to come soon.
Then ...may be....Janapathiwaranaya! So sajith or Ranil or someone else needs to prepare as soon as possible. Otherwise it is too late. It seems that Ranil has the intent to fight with Mahinda.
I think Ranil is the "relatively" best candidate for election. It is because,
(1) he has wide view of ethnic problem (e.g his support to 13+ solution). he can take support of TNA (that is a game change)
(2) he is a very experienced politician.
(3) great support from USA and European countries
(4) support for wide privatization and better economic view
he has weakness (how to address people effectively, but he can correct that. It is not a big deal)