Sri Lankan president abandons re-election bid

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has decided not to stand for re-election in November polls as the politically influential Rajapakse family nominated two candidates by final registration on Sunday.

Sirisena’s name was not on a list of 41 candidates who paid deposits by Sunday’s noon deadline to contest the November 16 presidential poll, according to Election Commission records.

It means Sirisena will leave office the day after the election, cutting short his five-year term by 52 days. A spokesman for Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) confirmed he was not seeking re-election.

Sirisena caused a constitutional crisis last year when he sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with former president Mahinder Rajapakse. The Supreme Court later ruled against Sirisena’s action and reinstated Wickremesinghe.