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Ranil to be sworn in today
By Nirupama Subramanian
COLOMBO, DEC. 8. The leader of the United National Party (UNP), Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, is to be sworn in the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on Sunday.
Mr. Wickremesinghe met the President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, at her invitation this afternoon for discussions on forming the government following the victory of his party in the general election.
The meeting lasted 30 minutes. Details were not immediately available. As the discussions were under way, an island-wide curfew, which was lifted this morning, was re-imposed from 6 p.m. today to 6 a.m. on Sunday.
In the central district of Kandy, which has remained tense since election day, when 10 people were killed, the curfew was re-imposed earlier in the day.
The new Cabinet has not been named yet and will not be sworn in along with the Prime Minister when he takes the oath of office.
Under the Constitution, the President appoints the Cabinet in consultation with the Prime Minister, if such consultation is considered necessary.
UNP sources said in this case, the President was prepared to abide by Mr. Wickremesinghe's choice of Ministers for the new Cabinet. It is not clear yet whether Ms. Kumaratunga's role as Executive President is to undergo a redefinition.
In a statement on Friday appealing for nation-wide calm in the wake of the election results, Ms. Kumaratunga had reasserted her position as the Defence Minister and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.
Asking the police and the military to act impartially to prevent post-election violence, she said strict action would be taken against those who did not obey her orders. Ms. Kumaratunga said her government had always acted to prevent post- election violence. ``I am bound to continue with that as the President and the Minister of Defence. Destruction of life and property of any follower of any political party should not be allowed,'' she said.
The defeated PA said in a statement today that its supporters were being attacked all over the country. The PA spokesman, Mr. Mangala Samaraweera, said the organised manner of the ``widespread'' violence was reminiscent of the post-election violence after the UNP victory of 1977, and accused the press of a ``conspiracy of silence'' in not highlighting the incidents.
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