Signatures will be collected for this petition from candidates contesting on the UPFA ticket, with a decision to make a public call not to vote for those who refuse to sign it.

This decision has been taken in response to the letter sent by president Maithripala Sirisena to his predecessor this afternoon.

In that letter, the president says if the UPFA gains the 113 seat parliamentary majority needed to form a government, the PM should be a SLFP senior who has so far been denied the position.