SL President-PM talks fail to reach consensus

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 December 2003, 16:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, and Prime Minister, Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, held talks on the cohabitation crisis Friday, but did not reach any consensus. They agreed to meet again on December 10 and terminate their talks on or before December 15, ruling United National Front sources said.

The President and PM agreed to give a final chance to arrive at a consensus on core issues at their December 10 meeting, sources said.

The third round of talks between Ms. Kumaratunge and Mr. Wickremasinghe began Friday around 4.30 p.m. at the Presidential secretariat and concluded at about 5.30 p.m. The discussion focused attention on finding a consensus to sort out the current crisis about sharing power between them, sources said.

Meanwhile, the committee comprising advisors of the President and Prime Minister would hold its final discussion on December 9, the United National Party’s Chairman, Mr.Malik Samarawickrema, said.

This committee, comprising Presidential senior advisor, Mr.Mano Tittawela, Presidential Secretary, Mr.W.S.Karunaratna Prime Minister’s senior advisor, Mr.Bradman Weerakoon, and Mr. Samarawickrema, was appointed during the first round of talks held between the President and the PM to work out a plan to defuse the current political crisis.

The crisis resulted from the take-over of three key ministries-- defense, interior and mass communication--from the UNF government’s ministers, Messrs Tilak Marapone, John Amaratunge and Imtiaz Bakeer Markar, on November 3 by the President.