Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has said that re-election of the People's Alliance (PA) government reaffirms people's mandate for her policies to find a political solution to ethnic war with LTTE, even as she blamed the proportional representation (PR) system for the government falling short of the majority. “The people have given us the fullest cooperation for the total eradication of terrorism and the provision for a political solution to end the ethnic crisis in the north-east,” she said in a statement published in official media on Saturday. Terming the PR system as fraudulent, Chandrika said, “The electoral victory which we have achieved this time is as unique as what we achieved in 1994. However, these results do not depict true and fair view of the poll due to anomalies of the PR system, which was introduced by the UNP government in 1972.”
Kumaratunga also said that despite highly partisan propaganda by the Opposition United National Party (UNP), she won seven regional and national elections in succession. Denouncing the allegations of violence and rigging in the polls, she said that barring one provincial election, the elections were held in fair and peaceful manner, which was acknowledged by the international monitors and Election Commissioner Dayananda Dissnayake. Bureau Report