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Sri Lanka PM`s peace warning
Colombo, Apr 05: Sri Lanka`s chances of making peace with Tamil rebels could suffer because the new government lacks a majority, the outgoing prime minister has warned.
Colombo, Apr 05: Sri Lanka's chances of making peace with Tamil rebels could suffer because the new government lacks a majority, the outgoing prime minister has warned.
The rebels have said they will resume fighting unless given the right to self-rule in the areas they dominate.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga's coalition won last week's elections, but failed to secure a majority.
She called the vote after a split with Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe over his handling of peace talks.
Wickramasinghe said the new government's likely reliance on coalition partners could stop it from acting decisively.
"It is not a question of what business is transacted, it is the ability to transact it," he said.
A senior aide for President Kumaratunga has said the resumption of peace talks with the rebels is a top priority.
The president's efforts to appoint a new prime minister stalled on Monday amid bickering over who should be nominated.
Her decision to appoint a close personal ally, Lakshman Kadirgamar, was rejected by members of her own party.
President Kumaratunga's United People's Freedom Alliance is eight seats short of a majority in the new parliament.
The smaller parties that may join it in a coalition may well oppose granting key concessions, such as sweeping autonomy, to the Tamil Tiger rebels, correspondents say.
The rebels have always clung on to the option of a return to war if their demands are not met in the two-year-old peace process.
Last Friday's parliamentary elections have also granted the rebels a certain political muscle after their proxy party won the third-largest number of seats in the new parliament, our correspondent says.
She adds that it is worrying the rebels have raised the threat of fresh fighting even before the shape of the new government has been decided.
The election was broadly felt to have been free of violence, save for some complaints of voter intimidation levelled against the Tigers by Tamil parties opposed to them.
Analysts say the election result illustrates frustration at Wickramasinghe's record on cutting corruption and managing the economy.
While some pre-election surveys showed voters backing his efforts to achieve peace with the rebels, there was unhappiness at the lack of economic gains peace had brought.
A record 6,024 candidates representing 24 political parties and nearly 200 other groups took part in the election.
For the first time there were election monitors at every polling station in the country.
Bureau Report
The rebels have said they will resume fighting unless given the right to self-rule in the areas they dominate.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga's coalition won last week's elections, but failed to secure a majority.
She called the vote after a split with Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe over his handling of peace talks.
Wickramasinghe said the new government's likely reliance on coalition partners could stop it from acting decisively.
"It is not a question of what business is transacted, it is the ability to transact it," he said.
A senior aide for President Kumaratunga has said the resumption of peace talks with the rebels is a top priority.
The president's efforts to appoint a new prime minister stalled on Monday amid bickering over who should be nominated.
Her decision to appoint a close personal ally, Lakshman Kadirgamar, was rejected by members of her own party.
President Kumaratunga's United People's Freedom Alliance is eight seats short of a majority in the new parliament.
The smaller parties that may join it in a coalition may well oppose granting key concessions, such as sweeping autonomy, to the Tamil Tiger rebels, correspondents say.
The rebels have always clung on to the option of a return to war if their demands are not met in the two-year-old peace process.
Last Friday's parliamentary elections have also granted the rebels a certain political muscle after their proxy party won the third-largest number of seats in the new parliament, our correspondent says.
She adds that it is worrying the rebels have raised the threat of fresh fighting even before the shape of the new government has been decided.
The election was broadly felt to have been free of violence, save for some complaints of voter intimidation levelled against the Tigers by Tamil parties opposed to them.
Analysts say the election result illustrates frustration at Wickramasinghe's record on cutting corruption and managing the economy.
While some pre-election surveys showed voters backing his efforts to achieve peace with the rebels, there was unhappiness at the lack of economic gains peace had brought.
A record 6,024 candidates representing 24 political parties and nearly 200 other groups took part in the election.
For the first time there were election monitors at every polling station in the country.
Bureau Report