Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said yesterday that as far as he knew President Maithripala Sirisena had not changed his stance that Mahinda Rajapaksa would not be given nomination.'

Mr. Senaratne said in response to a query, that the president had made it clear that Mr. Rajapaksa would not receive nomination from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party(SLFP)

President Sirisena had firmly expressed his position -- that he would not give nomination to Mr. Rajapaksa. That position had not changed since, he said.

Mr. Senaratne added that the UPFA's anti-Rajapaksa group were considering what action they should take if Mr. Rajapaksa decided to contest the election from the UPFA. (Ranjan Kasturi)