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Kumaratunga clarifies statement on Norwegian-brokered ceasefire
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Wednesday retreated from a war of words with the government over a landmark Norwegian-brokered ceasefire with Tamil rebels, saying she had not threatened to nullify it.
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Wednesday retreated from a war of words with the government over a landmark Norwegian-brokered ceasefire with Tamil rebels, saying she had not threatened to nullify it.
Kumaratunga, who has vast powers to sack the government and suspend parliament, was quoted in local media on Thursday as saying she would cancel the ceasefire agreement if she disagreed with some of its clauses.
"She did not say that. She spoke at a private meeting of her party but she did not say that," Presidential Secretary K. Balapatabendi told Reuters in a telephone call.
"What she said was that she was appointing a committee to take a serious look at the agreement and then she would issue a statement," he said. The ceasefire agreement, signed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was formally announced on Friday and paves the way for the first direct peace talks in seven years. Kumaratunga has already issued a statement critical of Wickremesinghe, her political archrival, saying he kept her in the dark about the truce agreement until just before it was announced.
Kumaratunga's People Alliance party was routed in parliamentary elections in December after running a hawkish campaign against Wickremesinghe's plans to end the conflict that has claimed more than 64,000 lives.
But Balapatabendi said that even though Kumaratunga disagrees with the way Wickremesinghe is approaching the peace process, she was not against it. "She is committed fully to a negotiated settlement to the conflict," he said.
The government has already said Kumaratunga, who retains the presidency until 2005, does not have the final say in the matter.
The last direct talks between the government and the rebels, fighting for a separate state for minority Tamils in the country's north and east, broke down in early 1995.
Bureau Report
"She did not say that. She spoke at a private meeting of her party but she did not say that," Presidential Secretary K. Balapatabendi told Reuters in a telephone call.
"What she said was that she was appointing a committee to take a serious look at the agreement and then she would issue a statement," he said. The ceasefire agreement, signed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was formally announced on Friday and paves the way for the first direct peace talks in seven years. Kumaratunga has already issued a statement critical of Wickremesinghe, her political archrival, saying he kept her in the dark about the truce agreement until just before it was announced.
Kumaratunga's People Alliance party was routed in parliamentary elections in December after running a hawkish campaign against Wickremesinghe's plans to end the conflict that has claimed more than 64,000 lives.
But Balapatabendi said that even though Kumaratunga disagrees with the way Wickremesinghe is approaching the peace process, she was not against it. "She is committed fully to a negotiated settlement to the conflict," he said.
The government has already said Kumaratunga, who retains the presidency until 2005, does not have the final say in the matter.
The last direct talks between the government and the rebels, fighting for a separate state for minority Tamils in the country's north and east, broke down in early 1995.
Bureau Report