The letter submitted by the Governing alliance partners requesting a meeting to discuss the New Fortress LNG deal was turned down by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and a decision was reached that if they are not given an opportunity to discuss matters surrounding the controversial LNG deal with the President, they will be forced to discuss these matters with the general public. This statement was made by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna MP and Minister of Water Supply Vasudeva Nanayakkara after a constituent party meeting held today (23). "Our request letter has been turned down. We tried discussing this matter with the President, but if he is refusing to discuss this matter with us, we cant have this discussion with him by force. So we will keep discussing it with the general public," remarked Nanayakkara. He further went on to say that "nothing is over yet", and the parties who are against this deal will keep fighting for the cause. Meanwhile, Minister of Energy Udaya Gammanpila told the media that a decision would be made tomorrow (24) during the party leaders meeting. "We are confident that the President will discuss this matter with us at the party leaders meeting," Gammanpila said. The request to discuss the New Fortress LNG deal had been made by the Democratic Left Front (DLF), the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), National Congress, the National Freedom Front (NFF), Ape Jana Bala Pakshaya, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Eksath Mahajana Party, Sri Lanka Communist Party, the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU), the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya and the Yuthukama National Organisation.