It has now come to the limelight that DNA Parliamentarian Tiran Alles and UPFA Provincial Councilor Udaya Gammanpila have influenced UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa to join the UPFA government just days before the presidential election.

Asian Mirror reliably learns that the Deputy Leader of the UNP has agreed to negotiate the matter only if he gets the post of Prime Minister immediately after the crossover. However, the top echelons of the ruling party had communicated to Premadasa that they were not in a position to offer him the PM post as that would create internal problems within the government.

The two parties, according to sources of the government, have so far failed to arrive at an “interim settlement”.

Premadasa’s close associates told Asian Mirror that the UNP Deputy Leader would not make a final decision without the consent of a famous media tycoon who acts as his ‘chief political consultant’. It is reported that the media tycoon is of the view that the UNP Deputy Leader should not cross over to the government, at this juncture.

But the government, on the other hand, is on a feverish mission to get a “big fish” from the opposition to give a boost to its propaganda campaign at the eleventh hour. The government's election campaign has been affected by crossovers from the government to the opposition that take place at regular intervals.

Since the announcement of the presidential election, the ruling party has so far lost 26 Parliamentarians. It also lost the two thirds majority in the country's legislature last week.