Sri Lankan president agrees giving party nominations to former president

The main opposition United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) on Friday said that Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena had agreed to allow former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest the Aug. 17 parliamentary elections under the UPFA banner.

The announcement came a day after Sirisena, as the chairman of the party, rejected to hand over nominations to Rajapaksa, paving the way for a major split in the opposition.

Intense discussions were held between Sirisena and members of the opposition on Friday morning afterwhich UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha in a statement released to media said that the president had given his consent.

He further said that the party's nomination list would be completed within the next few days.

The former Sri Lankan leader on Wednesday said that he would make a come back to politics by contesting the August Parliamentary elections and look to form a new government in the island nation.

He however did not say under which political party he would look to contest the polls despite his supporters holding crucial meetings with Sirisena in the past month trying to negotiate a favorable settlement for him to contest under the UPFA ticket.

One of the main demands put forward by Rajapaksa when he met the president in a meeting recently was that he be nominated as the UPFA's prime ministerial candidate. Sirisena however has rejected the request.

The president's decision to reject nominations for Rajapaksa was likely to lead to the former president and his supporters contesting the polls from a separate party.