Western Province Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunga left the country for Australia in a trip which he described as unavoidable.

It was reported earlier that he was planning to take part in the rally in Kandy tomorrow in support of naming Mahinda Rajapaksa as the next Prime Ministerial candidate of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

However, he issued a statement through his facebook page from Australia saying that he had to leave the country in an unavoidable trip which could not be postponed, adding that he had postponed this particular trip on two previous occasions. He said that there was no change in his stance and he continued to support Mahinda Rajapaksa to be named as the candidate for Prime Minister.

He also said that his trip was not a result of the order given by the SLFP that a member of the party cannot take part in a rally organized by other parties.

The chief organizers of the rallies in support of Mahinda Rajapaksa are Dinesh Gunawardena of Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, Wimal Weerawansa of National Freedom Front, Udaya Gammanpila of Pivithuru Hela Urumaya and Vasudeva Nanayakkara of Left Democratic Front.