President Maithripala Sirisena, in a desperate bid to engineer the removal of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, warned the UNP against seeking the support of the Tamil National Alliance to defeat the no-confidence motion. 

The President, during a meeting with UNP seniors this evening, said it would send a 'wrong message' to the public. 

A UNP Minister, who attended the meeting, said many Ministers who were present were 'disgusted' after hearing the President's remark on the TNA. 

However, the UNP had made it clear that they would welcome the TNA's support to defeat the no-confidence motion without any hesitation. 

In fact, Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera had pointed out that President Sirisena had no qualms about receiving the TNA's support at the last Presidential election.

The meeting between the President and the UNP seniors ended inconclusively a short while ago.

The UNP group attending the meeting was led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.