Colombo: Former Sri Lankan presidential hopeful Sajith Premadasa has launched the new Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) alliance ahead of the April 25 parliamentary elections, saying it was a long-term effort to build a new political culture beyond the polls, it was reported.

The SJB, a largely United National Party (UNP) creation, was launched with the participation of a number of the ruling party MPs, minority party politicians and civil society supporters at an event here on Monday, the Daily Financial Times newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The launch saw 12 political parties and civil society groups sign an agreement to formally join the alliance.

Addressing the event, Premadasa, also the UNP Deputy Leader, said that the launch signified a democratic, progressive people's revolution targeted at the upcoming pollss.

"Unlike political alliances or fronts formed in the past for winning elections, this alliance will have longitude and we plan to take our motherland in a new direction, through a new political culture," he said.

Premadasa is slated to contest the polls from Colombo district, where former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is also in the fray.

An estimated 16 million people are expected to vote in April.