Anti-government demonstration in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 August 2001, 09:45 GMT]
Thousands of demonstrators Thursday afternoon around 2 p.m. started marching towards Colombo Town Hall to attend a mass rally organised by the People's Alliance for Democracy, demanding President Chandrika Kumaratunge to reconvene the Parliament and cancel the proposed referendum for a new constitution.
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SL crisis deepens as majority legislators stake claim

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 August 2001, 12:17 GMT]
The majority of the members of the Sri Lankan Parliamentarian met in the legislature Friday and unanimously resolved to go ahead with the no confidence motion against President Chandrika Kumaratunga's government and defy any attempt by her to suspend Parliament again.
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JVP re-iterates conditional support to PA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 August 2001, 18:56 GMT]
The Marxist-Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Saturday said that it would support a probation government while continuing to be in opposition, without accepting positions in government. Mr.Wimal Weerawanse, Propaganda Secretary and a Parliamentarian, said in an interview with the State-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation that his party's proposal to form a probation government has been made to President Chandrika Kumaratunge, to "save the country from economic disaster and political anarchy."
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Joint opposition demands parliament reopens

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 August 2001, 11:05 GMT]
The joint opposition Wednesday asked the Government to reconvene parliament immediately and to cancel the referendum. Leaders of united National Party, Janata Vimukthi Peramuna, Sihala Urumaya, Tamil United Liberation Front, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (Hakeem group) and All Ceylon Tamil Congress met this morning under the leadership of Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, Leader of the Opposition and reviewed the President's decision to postpone the referendum for October 18.
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Opposition urges checks on referendum rigging

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 August 2001, 21:16 GMT]
Opposition parties Monday urged the Sri Lanka's Commissioner of Elections to take steps to stop rigging at the referendum on 21 August. Leaders of the United National Party, the Marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna, the Tamil United Liberation Front and the Sihala Urumaya met the Coomissioner of elections Monday morning for discussions about conducting the referendum in a free and fair manner.
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Referendum cancellation reports dismissed

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 August 2001, 18:35 GMT]
Sri Lankan government sources Monday dismissed reports that the President might cancel the referendum on 21 August in the face of mounting opposition to it. "Postal voting will begin as scheduled in three days. The Commissioner of Elections has made most of the arrangement for holding the referendum", a government spokesman said.
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Sihala Urumaya brokers 'truce' between PA-UNP

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 August 2001, 06:58 GMT]
The Sihala Urumaya (SU), the hardline Sinhala Buddhist nationalist party has appealed to the main opposition, United National Party to drop the no-confidence and impeachment motions against the People's Alliance government to end the present political crisis. The General Secretary of the SU Mr.Tilak Karunaratne made this request to the leader of the UNP when he met the latter Thursday.
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Stand of all parties on Referendum revealed

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 July 2001, 22:46 GMT]
Thirty-three recognized political parties have intimated to the Department of Elections, whether they are for or against the referendum scheduled to be held on August 21, according to a press release by the Commissioner of Elections Dayananda Dissanayake. "Political parties that have not intimated their stand to the Department of Elections will be treated as neutral parties," the press release added.
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Opposition parties condemn attack on demonstrators

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 July 2001, 20:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka's opposition parties condemned the police attack on anti-government demonstrators that left two people dead and about 70 wounded. UNP sources said the police attacked demonstrators led by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe. The UNP Leader escaped unhurt due to the prompt action of his bodyguards. Mr.Wickremesinghe accused the police of trying to assassinate him.
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Impeachment of the President considered

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 July 2001, 18:09 GMT]
The opposition parties Monday decided to bring an impeachment motion against President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge. Briefing the press on Monday, Mr. Ranil Wicremasinghe (UNP), the Leader of the Opposition, said that constitutional experts are studying the charges and an impeachment motion will be filed with the Speaker within two weeks.
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"PA can still form the Govt." D.M. Jayaratne

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 July 2001, 17:49 GMT]
"As the single largest party in Parliament, the People's Alliance (PA) can be invited to form the Government again even if it is defeated in the no-confidence motion," said D.M. Jayaratne, the General Secretary of the PA.
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Joint opposition wants debate on July 18

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 July 2001, 09:47 GMT]
The no-confidence motion against the People's Alliance (PA) Government is likely to be taken up for debate on July 18. This is in consequent of the written request by 115 opposition parliamentarians submitted Tuesday to the Secretary of the Speaker. "The entire opposition has requested the Speaker that the no confidence be taken up for debate on July 18. A certified copy the request was also handed over to the Secretary General of the parliament," Mr.Mahinda Samarasinghe, a UNP parliamentarian said.
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UNP, JVP to vote against extension of emergency

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 July 2001, 10:52 GMT]
Sri Lanka's main opposition, the United National Party Tuesday decided to vote against the motion on extending state of emergency which will be taken up for voting on Friday. "If the government holds the majority power in Parliament as repeatedly claimed by the Prime Minister, this is the best opportunity to prove it and show the strength of the government by ensuring the passage of the Emergency Regulations through Parliament" the parliamentary group of the UNP said in statement issued in this regard. Meanwhile the radical Marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna that has 10 MPs in the parliament said it will also vote against the motion.
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Tamil parties sign no confidence motion

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 June 2001, 13:28 GMT]
Three Tamil parties in Sri Lanka’s Parliament signed the no confidence motion against the ruling People’s Alliance government in Sri Lanka Thursday. The Tamil United Liberation Front, the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation and the All Ceylon Tamil Congress which together have nine seats in the legislature. However, a spokesman for the radical Marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna which has ten seats, and hence holds the key to the numbers manoeuvring in the Sri Lankan Parliament, said Thursday that it would announce its decision on Saturday.
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Sri Lanka govt. faces collapse as Muslims leave

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 June 2001, 09:16 GMT]
The Sri Lanka's ruling People's Alliance regime is facing collapse following the decision of its main coalition partner, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Wednesday to pull out of the government. The SLMC decision is the culmination of a month long crisis sparked by a pogrom against Muslims in the provincial town of Mawanella. The Sri Lankan President sacked Mr. Rauff Hakeem, the co-leader of the SLMC and Minister for Internal and Internal Commerce from the cabinet last night.
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Kadirgamar's move said linked to no confidence motion

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 May 2001, 19:34 GMT]
"The Sri Lankan government announced that it had reached an agreement with the Liberation Tigers not because of a genuine commitment to peace but to deftly pre-empt the support of minority parties for the opposition's impending no confidence motion against the government", a spokesperson for the ten party Tamil alliance told TamilNet in Colombo Friday evening. "The government is alarmed now that it might lose the support of at least a section of its main coalition partner, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress over the Mawanella pogrom. This is has created a serious crisis for the People's Alliance. Why should the Sri Lankan government, which consistently rejected the LTTE's ceasefire and refused to even partially lift the embargo on the Vanni despite facing greater military defeats than Agni Khiela I last year, jump the gun at this juncture to falsely declare that it had reached an understanding with the Tigers to begin peace talks?" the Tamil politician in Colombo asked.
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Colombo bans public processions

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 May 2001, 07:52 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government banned all public processions for a week under the Emergency Regulations Thursday. An official statement said that the ban commenced midnight of 9 May. The ban was promulgated in the Emergency Regulation No. 1 of 2001 (public precessions), according to the statement.
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Attacks shatter Mawanella Muslims

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 May 2001, 15:44 GMT]
Two mosques, sixty houses, forty shops and two Muslim owned fuel stations were burnt down Wednesday by mobs in the town of Mawanella, said Mr. Ali Sahir Moulana, a Muslim opposition Parliamentarian Thursday. He said that Sinhala mobs had carried out the attacks with the aim of destroying the basis of the Muslim people's economy in Mawanella. The town is on the main highway between Kandy and Colombo in the Kegalle district and is predominantly Muslim. Mr.Moulana said that the Sri Lankan government should take full responsibility for the attack on the Muslims in Mawanella and its environs.
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Sinhala nationalists support Mannar rape accused

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 April 2001, 20:16 GMT]
The former officer in charge of the Mannar Counter Subversive Unit (CSU) N.P.N.Suraweera who is accused of torturing and sexually assaulting two women in custody on 19 March filed a petition Wednesday in the court of appeal that the case against him should be heard in Colombo and not in the district court of Mannar. The Sinhala nationalist politician lawyer Mr. S.L Gunasekera appeared for the Police officer. Suraweera said in his petition that the two women were not raped in custody and that they started saying so only after the Mannar Bishop who, according to him, has close links with the Liberation Tigers visited them on 27 March.
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Pt. Pedro UC wants Sihala Urumaya banned

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 April 2001, 14:57 GMT]
The Pt. Pedro Urban Council passed a resolution Tuesday that the Sinhala extremist party, the Sihala Urumaya (SU) should be banned. Mr.Mark Kumanan of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) proposed the resolution, which was adopted unanimously by the council. The EPDP member said that the Sihala Urumaya should be banned because it is attempting to scuttle peace talks to settle the ethnic conflict. The Sihala Urumaya is a racist anti Tamil group, Mr. Kumanan told the council.
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