Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that he passed the 18th Amendment and decided to run for a third term because there was a demand from the people to remain in office until the work he had started could be finished.

 

Taking part in the 360 political talk show on TV Derana, he insisted that the people, not the constitution, should decide on whether the president could take office for a third term. There is no need to merely follow what is said in the US or French systems, he added.

 

Rajapaksa also said that people decided to refuse him a third term. He bowed to the decision and went to his hometown, he added.

 

Rajapaksa stressed that he is contesting in the upcoming general election purely due to the demand of the people. He pointed out that thousands of people came to see him in Medamulana and Tangalle ever since he left Colombo following the election defeat.