According to the minister, the President has met with a group of party seniors last night (01) and assured them that Mr. Rajapaksa would not be granted candidacy.

Noting that Mr. Rajapaksa has made no formal request to the party headquarters to be granted SLFP candidacy, the minister says that therefore, statements made here and there were baseless.

As former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has also stated that she would contest the General election as a mark of protest, if Rajapaksa contested under the SLFP ticket, granting candidacy for the latter would be more complicating, minister Nawinna added.

All attempts in vain :
Throughout the last few days, the President was much pressurized by many not to grant SLFP candidacy to Mr. Rajapaksa. Those who had built pressure on this front included Ms. Kumaratunga, SLFP members, the JHU as well as civil organisations including the 'Purawesi Balaya'.

Accordingly, attempts made by some UPFA members to bring forward Mr. Rajapaksa as the Prime ministerial candidate had ended in vain, reports add.