Debunking what seems to be fake news circulating in social media, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had not issued any statement on the Joint Opposition's Presidential candidate for 2020. 

"I wish to inform that a fake media release circulating in social media, purported to be from the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, claiming to have appointed me as the Presidential Candidate for 2020, is totally inaccurate and is an attempt by certain parties to mislead and confuse the people and political stakeholders," the former Defence Secretary said in a statement. 

A document widely shared on Facebook this morning said the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had nominated his younger brother Gotabya Rajapaksa to be the Presidential candidate of the JO for 2020. 

The JO is still sharply divided over its nominee for the next Presidential election. The names of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa and Chamal Rajapaksa have already been proposed by various groups as potential candidates. 

The Joint Opposition and its de facto leader former President Rajapaksa have repeatedly stated that a final decision on the Presidential candidate would not be made at this juncture.