Sirisena and Kumaratunga (2nd and 3rd from right) at press conference announcing his candidateship for presidency/ColollmboMirror

The general secretary of President Rajapaksa’s SLFP, Maithripala Sirisena, announced on Friday that he would contest the presidential election as the opposition’s common candidate.

“I thank all political parties and political groups for selecting me as the Common Candidate,” Sirisena, who is also the minister of health, said at a special press conference in Colombo, flanked by former president Chandrika Bandranaike Kumaratunga and other officials who have left the government.

The minister said a catastrophe had befallen the country and vowed to bring change, pledging to abolish the executive presidency within 100 days of being elected as president.

“One family is creating a soft dictatorship,” Sirisena told reporters today in Colombo. “There is corruption, injustice and rule of law has broken down. We have taken a decision to change the situation.”

Sirisena expressed his gratitude to the UNP and said he would appoint UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe as the prime minister, if elected.

The Sri Lankan presidential elections will be held on January 8, according to the country’s election commission.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will contest the poll for an unprecedented third term, against the common opposition candidate announced earlier today, his former health minister Maithripala Sirisena.

The poll will take place five days before the visit by Pope Francis.

Relatives of the fishermen outside Jaffna prison (Uthayan)

Relatives of three Tamil fishermen, who remain on death row, have staged a protest outside Jaffna prison, calling on the Sri Lankan state to release the men, reported the Uthayan.

A total of 8 fishermen were sentenced to death over drug trafficking charges, however the 5 Indian Tamil fishermen were released after protests in Tamil Nadu and subsequent intervention by the Indian government.

The Sri Lankan government has accused former peace negotiator Eric Solheim of being "a liar and a supporter of terrorists", after he rejected claims made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, reported the Daily Mirror.

A former LTTE cadre has been reported as missing by his family, since he disappeared in Jaffna earlier this month.

Antonymutthu Anton Jeyaron was staying at an apartment in the Kurunagar Housing development authority, when he went missing on November 17, stated his wife, who has filed a complaint with Jaffna police.

The 31 year old left his home to go shopping and did not return.

Jeyaron was held by Sri Lankan authorities after the end of the armed conflict in 2009 and subsequently put through the government rehabilitation process.

The latest disappearance follows the murder of a former LTTE policeman in Mannar this month alongside an increasing number of arrests by the Sri Lankan government. The incidents have reportedly led to an increased climate of fear amongst former cadres and Tamil activists in the North-East.