Incumbent Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena vowed to defeat the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in the upcoming Sri Lankan general elections
"I continue to stand against Mahinda Rajapaksa," said Mr Sirisena, adding that "he will be defeated again". The current president went on to state that he was against the nomination of Mr Rajapaksa under the ruling UPFA coalition. However former president Rajapaksa indicated he will be running for the post of prime minister with the UPFA, after having submitted his nomination papers, despite Mr Sirisena being the coalition leader.
The move has stirred unrest and criticism in the UPFA, with many high level defections and criticism of the president in recent weeks. Mr Sirisena responded by saying he applauded the criticism, which he said was only possible to his election victory earlier this year.
However he went on to warn that the freedom that he claimed to restore "should be enjoyed with a sense of responsibility".
Also see our earlier posts:
UPFA confident about winning general election (14 Jul 2015)
Mahinda Rajapaksa to run for Sri Lanka's prime minister post (13 Jul 2015)