Mangala Samaraweera decides not to contest the General Election from the Matara District

COLOMBO (News1st): Former minister Mangala Samaraweera has announced he would be stepping out from the parliamentary race, weeks ahead of the August election. "Although I cannot remove my name from the nomination list, I can request the general public not vote for my preferential number at the election," Samaraweera, the candidate of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya said. Samaraweera, who has been engaged in active politics since 1983, stressed that he will not call curtains on his political career, despite resigning from parliamentary politics. The former minister first entered Parliament from the Matara district in 1989 when he was in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. He has held ministerial portfolios in the cabinet of former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, in 1994, and Mahinda Rajapaksa from 2005 to 2007. Samaraweera joined the United National Party in 2010 and served as foreign minister and finance minister under the government that came into power in 2015.