Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya has accepted all 19 nominations of the candidates who will contest in the Presidential Election 2015.

The nomination papers were handed over by the candidates to the Elections Commissioner today at the Election Secretariat. A total of 19 candidates have handed over nominations to contest in the upcoming Presidential Election and all nominations were accepted by the Elections Commissioner without revisions.

During the nominations, Mahinda Deshapriya said that two objections were received, respectively for Mahinda Rajapaksa and for Maithripala Sirisena, but the Elections Commissioner said he rejected both objections on the grounds that they were not in accordance with the Elections Act.

He also instructed all candidates to adhere to rules and regulations pertaining to the Presidential Election and urged all state and private media institutions to act in an unbiased manner.  

Meanwhile, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and common candidate Maithripala Sirisena greeted each other at the election secretariat after handing over nominations.

The full list of the 19 candidates and their parties are as follows: