He was severely wounded in an attack inside the Parliament complex in 1987 . The biggest debacle of his political career came in May 1988 when he declared a truce with the rebellion JVP . The main brokers of the so-called truce were a lawyer called Kelly Senanayake and Fr Thissa Balasooriya who later found had no mandate to represent JVP . He received the portfolio of Trade and Shipping again in 1988 . His status in government changed upon Jayewardene 's retirement in 1988 , he tried to obtain the UNP 's nomination for the presidential election , but was defeated by Ranasinghe Premadasa who went on to win the presidency
attack
1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament
Lalith Athulathmudali