Deputy Minister Sanath Jayasuriya announced that he is supporting the UNP Matara District candidate Sagala Rathnayake.

Jayauriya was rumored to be crossing over, especially after he decided to resign as SLFP Organiser of Matara on July 6.

He said that he decided to support Rathnayake following a request made by the UNP candidate. Jayasuriya's mother also expressed her support to Rathnayake several weeks earlier.

Sanath Jayasuriya was thought to be a Mahinda Rajapaksa loyalist. However, he did not take part in the "bring back Mahinda" rally organized in Matara in June by the supporters of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. At the time, he said that he did not want to take sides in the internal party struggle between pro-Rajapaksa and anti-Rajapaksa groups.