Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to step down from the positions assigned to him by the 'Joint Opposition' shadow cabinet, informed sources said.

He was named as the Shadow Prime Minister and was assigned several Ministries when the Shadow Cabinet was announced by the 'Joint Opposition' yesterday.

However, sources said that Rajapaksa was not satisfied with the decision to announce a Shadow Cabinet. Accordingly, he had only instructed the 'Joint Opposition' to name monitoring MPs for different ministries.

MP Lohan Ratwatte, who was appointed as the Shadow Minister of Urban Development and Water Supply also 'resigned' from the post, saying that he had no been informed.