In a farcical turn of events, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party decided to abstain from voting at the no-confidence debate against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. 

The decision was made during a meeting held at the President's official residence, a short while ago. 

The party yesterday officially requested Prime Minister Wickremesinghe to step down from his position before the debate on the no-confidence motion. 

If not, the party said, it would vote against the Prime Minister at the vote. 

The UNP, in response, flatly refused the SLFP's request and asserted that it would confidently defeat the no-confidence motion. 

Today, in a sudden turn of events, the party made a decision to Abstain from voting, contradicting its own position which was conveyed to the Prime Minister yesterday. 

This came in the wake of the Prime Minister gaining a commanding position securing the support of all key minority parties.