By Yohan Perera   

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Chairman Sarath Fonseka  yesterday said he will form a new alliance to contest the  presidential elections which is to be held this year, an act that  confirms his planned defection from the party.   

Mr. Fonseka told the Daily Mirror he will be backed by an alliance which will include a large number of SJB MPs.   
“A good percentage of SJB MPs will back me,” he said.   

Meanwhile, the MP denied that he had been invited to  participate in the mass rally which UNP has organized in Kuliyapitiya on  March 10.   

Mr. Fonseka has been at loggerheads with the SJB leader Sajith Premadasa and has been criticizing him repeatedly.   

The party was planning to expel him from the party’s  position. However, Mr. Fonseka sought legal redress, preventing the party  from taking action against him.