Minister and President's Counsel Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said both former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga could not contest the next Presidential election. 

He said they were not eligible to run for the President's office as they have held the position twice. 

Rajapakshe, a former Justice Minister, said the article 31(2) of the constitution applied to both of them. 

This remark came in the wake of opinions expressed by some legal experts that Rajapaksa and Kumaratunga were eligible to run for presidency again as the 19th Amendment did not have a retrospective effect. 

The 19th Amendment to the constitution passed by Parliament in April, 2015, bars former President who have held the office twice from running for presidency again.