PA govt. in place in Sri Lanka

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, OCT. 13. The People's Alliance of Mrs. Chandrika Kumaratunga today formed the new Government of Sri Lanka, ending two days of uncertainty following the emergence of a hung parliament from elections held earlier this week.

Mr. Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, Prime Minister in the last government, was sworn in to office again this afternoon. The new Cabinet is likely to be announced early next week.

The PA, which secured 107 seats in the new Parliament, but was six short of the number required to form the Government on its own, struck deals with the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), the sister party of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), which have four MPs each.

An independent winner from Ampara who belongs to the EPDP has also extended support to the new Government, bringing its current strength to 116.

The United National Party (UNP) which won 89 seats, was also exploring the possibility of forming the Government till early this morning, but gave up when it failed to strike a deal with the NUA.

The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, said at a news conference today that he was not in negotiations with any party for the formation of the Government.

But signalling possible turbulence ahead, he predicted the new PA Government would not last its full term. ``Because no party has an overall majority, I don't think this government can last for six or even five years.''

Sri Lanka's 11th Parliament is to convene on October 18. The first task before the new Parliament would be to elect a new Speaker, which would also be the first test of the new Government's strength on the floor of the House.

The PA's vote share in this election was 45.10 per cent, a drop from the last elections when it had 48.94 of the votes, but ended up with two more seats in Parliament than in 1994.

The UNP, which was hoping to cash in on the erosion in support for the PA, was disappointed. Its vote also dropped, from 44.02 per cent to 40.21 per cent.

Alleging large-scale electoral malpractice, Mr. Wickremesinghe said the results would have been a ``tie'' for the two parties had the polling been violence free.

``Unfortunately, these elections cannot be certified as free and fair. The violence has affected the proportionality for the parties,'' he said.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said the UNP would push for electoral reforms in Parliament and outside because the holding of ``free and fair elections has become the main issue'' in the country.

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