The two sides of Sri Lanka's coalition government, the SLFP and UNP continued talks today over the looming parliamentary debate on a no-confidence motion against the prime minister and UNP leader, Ranil Wickremetunge.
According to Sri Lankan press reports, the president urged Mr Wickremetunge not to take the motion lightly, stating that his chance of surviving it was only 50 percent.
Today's talks follow several meetings yesterday including between the president and a high level UNP delegation, as well as the president and United National Front (UNF) ministers.
One UNF minister was quoted by the BBC Sinhala service as saying "the President was of the view that if the UNP attempts to win the no-confidence motion with the support of the Tamil National Alliance it may be misconstrued by the public."