At a media briefing in Colombo yesterday, Rajapaksa said he was willing to work with the president after the parliamentary election.

As an extension to that, he would say he is prepared to recognize the SLFP leadership of president Sirisena.

This announcement is to be made pursuant to an agreement reached by advisers to the president and to Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

With that, a leading politician who is supporting the UNF is to return to the UPFA, the sources say.

Furthermore, the campaign dubbed ‘Forward with Maithri’ is to be launched immediately with the involvement of the ex-president.