evidence: Once Kariyawasam had presented his proposal, S.B. Dissanayake had spoken up saying that he agreed with the proposal. Many in the gathering had started to applaud at the statement. Then SB had continued to say that, however, he believed that President Wickremesinghe should be supported to win for the sake of the country. "He (the President) is also the person who protected our party members," SB had added. Johnston Fernando had objected to the statement, saying that SB should not try to carry out Wickremesinghe’s bidding at the meeting. [...] The former President had claimed that while a faction of the SLFP was trying to sell the party to President Wickremesinghe, another faction was trying to betray it to the SJB. At the time Jayasekara had denied any connection with the SJB. "I have no plans to join the SJB. My plan is to revive the SLFP," he had said. [...] Prior to the launch of the SJB-led alliance, Premadasa’s right-hand man, businessman Lakshman Fonseka had organised a meeting with several SJBers on the media campaign.