Jayewardene was speaking to the media at a recent media briefing, where Reginald Cooray, Mahinda Gunasekara and Anura Bastian announced their support to minister Champika Ranawaka.
He said, however, the late Gamini Dissanayake could not fulfill it.
At that time, Chandrika Kumaratunga was not in a politically strong position either, he said.
He went onto say that Champika Ranawaka helped form the government in 2005.
A leader with a vision, who also can protect the country, we thought of extending our support to him, Jayewardene added.
