Former Minister Malik Samarawickrama is working to build an agreement between President Ranil Wickramasinghe and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader - Sajith Premadasa, 'Sri Lanka Mirror' learns.

Mr. Samarawickrama is a close friend of Mr. Wickramasinghe who also played a major role in making Mr. Premadasa the presidential candidate from the UNP led alliance at the last presidential election.

However, recent efforts by Mr. Samarawickrama to organize a discussion between the President and the National People's Power (NPP) had fallen through.

So far, the SJB, the NPP, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) have refused to join the government as political parties, and this had hampered efforts to form an All-Party government.

16 opp. MPs to crossover?

Meanwhile, the 'Deshaya' newspaper has reported that 16 MPs representing the SJB and other allied opposition parties have decided to back an All-Party government.

It is said that this group of MPs represent the regions of Kegalle, Ratnapura and Nuwara Eliya with some from the national list.

It is also said that several such SJB members have already chosen to carry on their future  political endeavours with the UNP.

Meanwhile, Labor Minister - Manusha Nanayakkara has also said that by next week, the final decision of parties will be sought and an All-Party government will be formed accordingly.