Sri Lankan strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was appointed prime minister in a controversial move by President Maithripala Sirisena, on Sunday ended his five-decade-long association with the SLFP and joined the newly-formed Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP).

Rajapaksa's move signalled that he would contest the snap polls, to be held on January 5, under his own party banner and not that of Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). The former president obtained the membership of SLPP, launched by his supporters, on Sunday.