Chandrika begins parleys to defuse crisis

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, JULY 31. As the dust settled on the LTTE's devastating attack at the Katunayake airport complex, the Sri Lankan President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, began a series of meetings with allies and opponents in what seemed to be a bid to disentangle the country's political imbroglio.

Ms. Kumaratunga is in the eye of a political storm after she prorogued Parliament last month to avoid a no-confidence motion against her Government and simultaneously called a referendum on August 21 on the need for a new Constitution.

A court today heard 13 petitions against the referendum asking for writs against the Election Commissioner to restrain him from holding the referendum, and also challenging the referendum itself on several grounds. The arguments will continue on Wednesday.

Against the gathering protest, Ms. Kumaratunga last week wrote to all the opposition parties in Parliament inviting them for discussions on the political situation.

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, which has said it would launch a massive island-wide campaign against the referendum, is the only party to have taken up the invitation so far.

Its representatives met her today amid press reports that the party was all set to cut a deal to rescue the minority People's Alliance Government.

Details of the meeting were not immediately available but the JVP was expected to demand that the President cancel the referendum and reconvene Parliament, and set up five independent commissions to oversee the judiciary, the police, bureaucracy, elections and the media as the price for its support.

A delegation of 300 monks representing the Buddhist Mahasangha also landed at the President's house today in response to Ms. Kumaratunga's invitation to religious leaders for a meeting on their views of the political situation.

Sri Lanka's two most pre-eminent Buddhist monks, the chief priests of Kandy's Malwatte and Asgiriya chapters, were not in the delegation.

Ms. Kumaratunga gave no indication of backing down on the referendum or the prorogation of Parliament as she kicked off the flurry of meetings with a briefing on Monday night for Colombo- based diplomats.

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Section  : International
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