President- PM To Make Final Call At Cabinet Meeting

After a discussion that lasted for over one and a half overs at the President's official residence down Paget Road, President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe agreed to make a final decision on the continuity of the government at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow, in the presence of both the UNP and the SLFP ministers. 

The decision was arrived after a meeting held between a UNP delegation, headed by the Prime Minister, and President Sirisena. The Prime Minister left for the meeting shortly after a meeting with the party leaders of the United National Front. They unanimously agreed to back Wickremesinghe to continue as the Prime Minister. 

Multiple political sources confirmed that the Prime Minister's position in the government was solid. There is a great possibility that he will form a new government, led by the UNP, this week, with the support of some SLFP ministers who will defect to the green camp. 

So, there is a possibility that tomorrow's Cabinet meeting will be the last Cabinet meeting of the national unity government, formed after the Parliamentary election, in 2015. At the same time, there is a possibility that both parties will agree to form a committee to decide the future of the unity government, in an attempt to buy more time. 

Such a committee will only prolong the political instability which has already resulted in an ailing stock market and shrinking FDIs. 

The UPFA, in a press conference today, said they would not continue in a government in which Ranil Wickremesinghe holds the position of the Prime Minister. The UNF party leaders then agreed to let the UPFA quit the government, if they did not wish to accept the Prime Minister's leadership. 

Therefore, the UPFA ministers may bow out of the Cabinet meeting tomorrow, as nobody's children. Some of them, however, will join the opposition while some will align with the Joint Opposition. 

The likes of Dilan Perera, who cannot join either side, will continue as an independent opposition group for the time being.