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Former Sri Lankan President to contest for Prime Minister

Xinhua, March 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has decided to contest for the prime ministership at parliamentary elections scheduled to be held after April 23.

Rajapakse who lost the Presidential Elections in January has decided to contest under the Sri Lanka Labour Party, a seperate political party and not his own Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

Sri Lanka Labour Party Leader A.S.P. Liyanage told Xinhua that Rajapakse has already discussed with his party on the matter and had also gathered support for the move from some members of the SLFP.

Rajapakse had decided to contest under the Sri Lanka Labour Party after failing to secure the full support of the SLFP to be their prime ministerial candidate at the polls.

Rajapakse was replaced by current President Maithripala Sirisena as the Chairman of the SLFP following the Presidential Elections in January.

The former President was later named as an advisor to the SLFP and it was widely speculated that he would make his return back to politics before the parliamentary elections. Endi