The second round of discussion between the UPFA and the SLPP is expected to take place today, political sources said. 

The first round of discussions between the two parties took place earlier this month and both sides said it ended on a positive note. 

However, relations between the SLPP and the UPFA strained when the UPFA MP group supporting President Maithripala Sirisena abstained from voting at the second reading of the budget. 

The SLPP lamented the UPFA's decision to abstain denied them the opportunity to defeat the budget in Parliament. 

In the wake of this development, the SLPP indicated that it had decided to field former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the party's Presidential candidate. 

This irked senior members of the UPFA including party General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekera and Duminda Dissanayake who maintained that Sirisena would be the UPFA's only choice for presidential candidacy.