Deputy Minister Nalin Bandara indicated that they would form a new party if the UNP decided to nominate someone other than Dputy Leader Sajith Premadasa as the Presidential candidate.

In a Facebook post, Bandara said yesterday that they would form a new party "with elephants", indicating that "original UNPers" would rally behind them.

Premadasa has already made it clear that he will run for the Presidential election. His ally Dilip Wedaarachchi said earlier this month that Premadasa would run for the Presidency, with or without the UNP ticket. Bandara's call to form a new party is an indication that Premadasa is losing his battle to secure Presidential candidacy within the UNP.

However, when contacted by Asian Mirror, a senior UNP spokesman scoffed at the idea saying such a move would be politically suicidal for everyone joining the envisaged "new party."

"This party will only be a political orphanage for President Maithripala Sirisena who is doomed to become a political non-entity in two months. Why would anyone want to risk their political careers for someone like Sirisena?" he asked.