Former President Maithripala Sirisena has withdrawn his support for presidential candidate Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe as he announced yesterday that he will not stand for any candidate.

Issuing a statement, he said that he had not decided to extend to support any candidate and media reports suggesting otherwise were baseless. He said the internal dispute of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) which he, once, led had been taken up in court which is yet to decide on the party chairmanship.

He said only the party chairman had the authority in terms of the party constitution, and therefore remarks by any other office bearer would not be valid.