A section of the 'joint opposition', formed by UPFA dissidents, is now holding discussions with former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in a bid to bring him to the forefront of the fledgling political movement, informed sources told Asian Mirror. 

With the former Defence Secretary coming into the picture, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to take a back seat. 

"Discussions with the former Defence Secretary are successful. We need his involvement to take this new political movement to the next level," a spokesman of the joint opposition, who spoke to Asian Mirror on conditions of anonymity, said. 

"However," he added, "no final decision has so far been made on the matter. But I can confirm that his response is positive." 

However, the former Defence Secretary is currently facing a number of investigations in relation to bribery, corruption and a few other charges. Even today he appeared before PRECIFAC, the Presidential Commission probing into large scale corruption and abuse of power. 

Some political analysts have already opined that getting into active politics will be a defence-mechanism for the former Defence Secretary, as far as the investigations are concerned. 

When speaking to reporters over the past few weeks, the former Defence Secretary did not make any effort to hide his political intentions. He said everyone should now come together to 'reverse' what he termed as the disastrous path the country was taking. 

Political sources also added that nearly 30 UPFA MPs had already aligned themselves with the new political movement.