Parties to the discussion were Susil Premajayantha and Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, said to have been expelled from the SLFP, and senior UPFA leader Dinesh Gunawardena, said the sources.

Ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa has given his approval for them in this exercise.

Ranil Wickremesinghe will be the prime minister and a UPFA senior appointed as his deputy and the cabinet will comprise both UNP and UPFA members, it is most likely.

President Maithripala Sirisena will chair a SLFP central committee meeting this afternoon to take a final decision on a national government, a SLFP senior told SLM.

Yapa said the public opinion should be taken into consideration now, but there should be no room for a division of the party.