Chandrika wins new ally to push for peace
AFP, Colombo
Sri Lanka's ruling coalition yesterday won crucial support from an opposition party to gain a simple majority for the first time since April elections and clear the way for reviving peace talks with Tamil rebels. The Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC), which has eight seats in the 225-member parliament, decided to support President Chandrika Kumaratunga's Marxist-backed Freedom Alliance, party leader Arumugam Thondaman said. "We will extend our support unconditionally to the government and this will help them to carry forward their plans," Thondaman told reporters here. "The peace process was also stalled because the government did not have a majority." Thondaman said his party which draws its support from Tamils of Indian origin brought to work in tea plantations by British colonial rulers in the 19th century, wanted self-rule for the island's indigenous minority Tamils. The CWC supported the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) demand to establish an "Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA)" for the island's embattled northern and eastern regions, Thondaman added. "My (late) grandfather also wanted an interim administration given (to the LTTE) for five years," Thondaman said. "We think the ISGA proposal can be the basis for starting negotiations with the LTTE. You have to start somewhere." Thondaman said his party would vote with Kumaratunga's alliance at the November 10 national budget and would also support other electoral reforms proposed by the government, but which it had been unable to push through earlier. The Freedom Alliance narrowly won the April 2 parliamentary election and lacked a simple majority in the assembly. It lost the first vote for the Speaker of the house. However, with Friday's political re-alignment, the government would cross the 113-mark in the assembly to enjoy a simple majority, officials said. Thondaman said the question of ousting the present speaker and electing a new chairman for the assembly was also up for discussion with the government. Thondaman declined to disclose if he would accept cabinet portfolios from the government, but said it was up to the government to decide how their support would be used. However, political analysts noted that although Kumaratunga gets a parliamentary boost in terms of numbers, she would also have to carry out a delicate balancing act with her main coalition partner, the Marxist JVP.
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