Colombo, March 18 (IANS): Sri Lanka's ruling United National Party (UNP) on Wednesday expressed confidence that former president Mahinda Rajapakse will not be able to make a comeback to politics.

UNP legislator and Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith Perera said even President Maithripala Sirisena, who is the leader of the political party of which Rajapakse is a member, would ensure that he was not given a place at the elections, Xinhua news agency reported.

Sri Lanka is expected to hold parliamentary elections after April 23 and there have been reports that Rajapakse will contest if not under his political party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), then under another party.

"He will not be able to contest from the SLFP because the leader of the SLFP is the current president. The president will not allow Mahinda Rajapakse to contest from this party. Then he will have to create a new party or contest under some other party," Perera said.

Perera said the former president had become "weak" since his defeat in the January 8 presidential election.

"The defeated Mahinda Rajapakse is definitely weaker than earlier," he said.

The Sri Lanka Labour Party, a minority political party in the island nation, announced on Tuesday that Rajapakse would contest for the post of prime minister in the upcoming parliamentary elections as its candidate.

The party said it had even requested the Elections Commission to change the existing party symbol under directions from the former president.