Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest as PM candidate

June 28, 2015 15:30

Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaksa plans to return to mainstream politics as the prime ministerial candidate of the main opposition party, his close associate Kumar Welgama said today.

"He will be the prime ministerial candidate of either the Sri Lanka Freedom Party or the United People's Freedom Alliance," Welgama said. President Maithripala Sirisena, who is the leader of both the groups, has resisted calls to allow Rajapaksa to contest.

However, a six-member committee appointed to have talks with Sirisena and Rajapaksa has clinched the candidature of Rajapaksa, Welgama said. Sirisena, who was Rajapaksa's health minister, joined the main opposition UNP just ahead of the January 8 presidential election.

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