The formation of a national government has been mooted by the government and several parties that represent the opposition.
The national government will be formed for a specific period to implement landmark decisions to take the country forward.
In any event, if the parties reject the offer to form a national government, the president is ready to implement his second plan by luring opposition members to join the government by offering them key portfolios in the government.
A government MP on inquiry told the “Lankasara” that the talks between the government and opposition parties have reached a certain level and that he was confident that a national government could be mooted in the next few weeks.
He said many party leaders except for the JVP have participated in the discussions.
The main aim of the government is to reach common ground and form a national government, and the deadline is the end of April to complete all negotiations.
However, efforts by two minority parties headed by Mano Gneashan and Rauf Hakeem to put the UNP and the SJB together have not borne any fruit as such.
If the SJB rejects the offer, the next move would be to secure the support of members of the SJB to form the national government. At least thirty of them have agreed to work with the government, sources said.
Meanwhile, Rajitha Senaratne, who had announced that he was prepared to leave the opposition and join the government, had promised in front of a strong group of opposition members that he would not leave the party.
The Freedom National Assembly, headed by Dallas Alahapperuma and GL Peiris, has decided that despite receiving a request from the President to form a national government, they should steer clear of such a move.
The group led by Wiml Weerawans has also been critical of the government’s privatization policy and is hence most unlikely to support the government.
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