A group of opposition members are expected to meet former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and urge him to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections in the island country, an opposition member has told the Xinhua news agency.

The recent move came after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, this week, dared Rajapaksa to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections, as the opposition’s prime ministerial candidate and stated that Rajapaksa would not contest at a future election. “I don’t think he will contest. I know him,” Wickremesinghe said.

However Sri Lanka’s opposition member and former minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara said that a group of opposition members will meet the former president soon and urge him to contest the upcoming elections.

“We will try our best to get Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest the elections. We are confident he will win as there is a majority of people who want him back to head the country,” Nanayakkara told.

In a massive rally held in a densely-populated suburb of Colombo last week, in support of Rajapaksa, the former president in a letter to the supporters hinted his return to politics by stating he could not ignore the hands of honor and affection extended to him by the people and the leadership forces of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

The message read out to the applause of a large crowd said, “I would like to emphasize that I cannot ignore the aspirations of the people who think about the country and had dedicated themselves for the country,” he said.

“I would like to state again that I would embrace with honor and comradely the hands of comradeship extended by the people and the leadership forces of the UPFA led by the SLFP,” the message quoting Rajapakse read.

Former ministers including Wimal Weerawansa, Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Dinseh Gunewardena, together with several other opposition members attended the rally and have been speaking in support of Rajapaksa since his surprise defeat in last month’s presidential elections.