The Sri Lankan opposition on Thursday said that attempts to settle a rift between President Maithripala Sirisena and Former President Mahinda Rajapakse as well as politicians affiliated to both sides has been “murdered” due to the recent actions of the government.

Opposition Parliamentarian Dullas Allahapperuma told Xinhua that the questioning of the former Defence Secretary by the anti graft commission and investigations also to be conducted against the former president are hurting chances of a reconciliation between Sirisena and Rajapakse. “What the government is doing is totally unacceptable. More people are going to rise against the government if such political harassment continues,” he said.

A meeting between Sirisena and Rajapakse is expected to take place on Saturday but owing to prior commitments that Rajapakse has, the meeting may not take place on the scheduled date, Allahapperuma said.

Both leaders are expected to discuss matters of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) of which Sirisena is the leader while Rajapakse is a senior advisor.

Opposition parliamentarians who support the former president have blamed the government for resorting to political harassment as Rajapakse and his two brothers are being probed over bribery and corruption allegations.

The former president’s younger brother Basil Rajapakse was arrested by a special police unit on Wednesday evening over allegations of financial fraud allegedly committed by him during his term as the economic development minister in the previous government, making him the first member of the Rajapakse family to be arrested.

Gotabaya Rajapakse was summoned to the anti graft commission on Thursday over corruption allegations while the former president himself is expected to be questioned by officers from the anti- graft commission on Friday over bribery allegations.

The government, however, has denied any involvement in the investigations, stating that the anti-graft commission functioned independently, Xinhua reported.