Colombo sources stated that Sri Lankan strongman Mahindra Rajapaksa, who was appointed prime minister in a controversial move by President Maithripala Sirisena, on Sunday ended his five decade long association with the SLFP and joined the newly formed Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP).
Meanwhile Rajapaksa's move signaled that he would contest the snap polls, to be held on January 5, under his own party banner and not that of Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Accordingly the former president obtained the membership of the SLPP, launched by his supporters. As per report his father Don Alwin Rajapaksa was a founding member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which was formed in 1951.
Furthermore the 72 year old strongman, who ruled Lanka for a decade from 2005, was unexpectedly defeated by his deputy, Sirisena, in the presidential election held in January 2015 with the support from Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP). Moreover the power sharing arrangement between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe became increasingly tenuous on several policy matters, especially on economy and security. Earlier on October 26, Sirisena abruptly ousted Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Rajapaksa, after three and a half years of an estranged relationship with him.