The ruling People Alliance (PA) and the main opposition United National Party (UNP) have reached an agreement to preserve the stability of the new PA government, which was formed this week, media reports said in Colombo on Sunday.
Both official and private media have carried reports quoting the PA and the UNP sources that Prime Minister, Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, who formed a coalition government after obtaining a three-seat majority reached a working arrangement with UNP leaders to run his government without any problems for the next two years.
According to the accord, the UNP which has 89 MPs in the 225-member parliament would not confront the government and adopt a positive approach to enable it to function smoothly.
On its part, the government has agreed to appoint three independent commissions to conduct elections, administer police and other public services, which was a longstanding demand of the UNP. The government also agreed to bring in media reforms by removing the criminal defamation, the official Sunday Times reported.
The agreement, to be ratified by the UNP working committee on Monday has been reached between Wickramanayake and UNP chief whip Tyrne Fernando, the Sunday Observer said. The reason for reaching such agreement between two parties was stated to be to relieve the government from the undue pressure being exerted by Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), whose leaders were allegedly demanding plum portfolios for extending support.
Bureau Report
