Ports, Shipping and Southern Development Minister Sagala Ratnayaka said the Presidential candidate of the UNP would be selected through the same procedure adopted by the party in all recent Presidential elections.

"There is nothing unusual about it, Once the candidate is selected, all members of the party will support the Presidential candidate," Ratnayaka said speaking to the reporters in Deniyaya.

Ratnayaka is a strong supporter of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and openly backed the Prime Minister's move to form a common alliance at the last Working Committee meeting of the party.

The Minister said he too was invited for a meeting in Badulla to mark the inauguration of a housing scheme but could not attend the event due to commitments in his own electorate.

Ratnayaka's remarks come in the wake of the escalating power struggle within the UNP over the party's Presidential candidacy.