State Minister Harsha de Silva tweeted "Match Over" suggesting that the move to oust Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe through a no-confidence motion has fizzed out.

"Match over! So ultimately looks like the SLFP let the JO down by promising non existent numbers... We, the UNF, will defeat the No Confidence Motion against the PM without any trouble," de Silva said.

"After that we will go for a total restructure of the UNP this coming weekend. The new look, younger and stronger UNP will emerge by 1 May 2018," he also added.

There were only 20 Joint Opposition MPs in Parliament this morning when the motion was officially presented to the House by Dinesh Gunawardena.

The vote on the no-confidence motion is scheduled to be held at 9.30 pm.