Sri Lanka's Opposition on Tuesday flayed President Chandrika Kumaratunga for raising the prospect of a constitutional clash between the executive presidency and the elected government, if the Opposition won a majority in Parliament in the December 5 election. There is an attempt to denigrate the parliamentary election, as though it means nothing when the president will continue to wield power. She must remember that she cannot rule the country without Parliament, opposition United National Front spokesman, G L Peiris, told reporters in Colombo.
The UNF, led by the main opposition United National Party (UNP), is hoping to gain control of the 225-member legislature amidst widespread disillusion with seven years of rule by Kumaratunga's Peoples Alliance. In her inaugural campaign rally speech at Anuradhapura last week, Kumaratunga, whose tenure as president ends only in December 2005, indicated that she would be unable to work with UNP-majority parliament and a UNP-led government.
Seeking a clear majority for the PA, she said, “I cannot work with UNP and 12 dissidents who have joined their side”. Her stand may render governance very difficult for the UNP, if it forms a government, as under Sri Lanka's 1978 constitution, the president frames policy, heads the cabinet, appoints the prime minister and other ministers.
Bureau Report