Sri Lanka is in a directionless moment of drift - Prof.Uyangoda

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 2004, 02:56 GMT]
Third parliamentary elections in four years indicate that Sri Lanka's "political order is unstable, the polity is acutely fragmented, political forces are divided in hostility and the country is in a directionless moment of drift," writes Professor Uyangoda in the Friday edition of Daily Mirror.


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Moragoda resigns from the UNF cabinet

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2004, 15:52 GMT]
Mr.Milinda Moragoda, a senior minister in the United National Front government of Sri Lanka and a key member of the UNF team in peace talks with the Liberation Tigers, Wednesday submitted his resignation to the Prime Minister, Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, sources said.
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SL President dismisses 39 non-cabinet, deputy ministers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2004, 14:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge Wednesday removed 27 non-cabinet ministers and 12 deputy ministers from the United National Front government. She exercised power vested with her under Article 47 of the constitution in issuing the dismissal order, presidential secretariat sources said.
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General elections would create more confusion - TNA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2004, 04:27 GMT]
Commenting on the dissolution of parliament and the scheduled general elections in April, the parliamentary leader of the Tamil National Alliance, Mr. R. Sampanthan, said Sunday that the general elections would lead to more confusion in the country as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which clamored for the elections "to salvage the country from the current political uncertainty," have no clear-cut policies to solve the Tamil national question.
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Kadirgamar, Jayaratne appointed ministers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2004, 00:55 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, who Saturday dissolved parliament through an Extraordinary Gazette notification, has appointed two senior parliamentarians of her People's Alliance, Mr.Lakshman Kadirgamar and Mr.D.M.Jayaratne, as ministers with immediate effect, the Presidential Secretariat said in a press release Sunday.
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PA-UNF committee meets again

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2004, 02:56 GMT]
Amid speculation in political circles that there would be a permanent breakdown of talks between President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge and Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe in arriving at a consensus to end the current political crisis, the committee discussing ways to bring an amicable settlement between the executive and the legislative branches met again Tuesday, political sources said.


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"No agreement on peace process with PM" - Kumaratunge

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2004, 23:06 GMT]
Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe's insistence to take control of the defense ministry is the main obstacle in concluding an agreement to end the current political impasse, said the Presidential Secretariat in a media release issued Tuesday. Speculation is rife in Colombo that the dissolution of parliament is to be announced at any moment, political sources in Colombo said.


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"No back-door link with LTTE"- Harim Peiris

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2004, 17:13 GMT]
"The President is not trying to establish a back-door link with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam," said Sri Lanka President's spokesperson Mr.Harim Peiris commenting on a report that Defense Ministry Secretary Mr. Cyril Herath has written a letter to LTTE Peace Secretariat head Mr.Pulithevan, media sources said.


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SLMC against postponement of Amparai local elections

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2004, 13:42 GMT]
Leader of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), and Minister in the UNF Government, Rauf Hakim, told a party meeting that under no circumstances the Amparai local council elections scheduled to be held on 22 February should be postponed. "We may be forced to take extreme measures against the Sri Lanka Government if it accedes to request by a few for postponement," Minister Hakim added, political sources said.
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Four political parties to join UPFA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2004, 12:43 GMT]
Four more political parties, Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP), National Unity Alliance (NUA), Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP) and Deshiya Jathika Vimukthi Peramuna (DJVP) have expressed willingness to join the recently formed political party United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA). UPFA was formed by the Sri Lanka Freedom party and Sinhala nationalist-Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) with the objective of defeating the ruling United national Front government at the next general elections, political sources said.
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Peace gives no light to Vakarai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2004, 00:32 GMT]
Vakarai is a large backwater on Sri Lanka’s east coast. It is an area with large fertile fields, lagoons and virgin forests in the northern part of the Batticaloa district. Vakarai was subjected to more than fifteen years of a brutal counter insurgency campaign by the Sri Lanka army. It has seen hardly any development even after the war stopped two years ago. Electricity is still a luxury here. “I have never seen electricity used in Vakarai since I was born,” N.Loganathan, a resident of Panichchankerni, told TamilNet.


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Maj.Gen.Furuhovde assumes duties as Head of SLMM

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2004, 12:29 GMT]
Major General Trond Furuhovde, Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), will arrive in Colombo Saturday 31st January 2004. He will assume command of SLMM from Sunday 1st February 2004, a press release issued by the SLMM Head Quarters in Colombo, Friday said.
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Kumaratunge's message read out at UPFA rally

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2004, 16:07 GMT]
"The formation of United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA ) is a great victory for democracy in Sri Lanka," said Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge in her message to the maiden rally of the UPFA held Thursday evening in Colombo. Mr.Maithiripala Sirisena, general secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which is a constituent of the UPFA, read out president's message at the rally, sources said.
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JVP for elections -Amarasingha

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2004, 14:29 GMT]
Leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Mr. Somawansa Amarasingha, said Thursday his party is for holding general election in Sri Lanka soon, addressing a massive public meeting of the new alliance between the JVP and President Kumaratunga's Sri Lanka Freedom Party in Colombo.
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Sinhala leaders lack capacity to understand national crisis - Uyangoda

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 2004, 03:11 GMT]
"[The SLFP-JVP alliance] raises some disturbing questions about the incapacity of the old as well as the emerging political leadership in the Sinhala society to even simply understand what the Sri Lanka's present crisis is all about," said Prof.Jeyadeva Uyangoda in an article assessing the impact of the new alliance on the current political dynamics in Colombo in the Friday's edition of Daily mirror.


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Anura Bandaranaike denies secrecy in SLFP-JVP pact

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2004, 12:15 GMT]
Peoples Alliance parliamentarian Mr.Anura Bandaranaike in a statement issued Friday denied any secrecy in the agreement signed by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Sinhala Nationalist Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in forming the United Peoples Freedom Alliance ( UPFA ).


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Amarasinghe to address UPFA's first national convention

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2004, 01:01 GMT]
Exiled leader of the Sinhala nationalist Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Mr.Somawanse Amarasinghe who returned to Sri Lanka on Tuesday, will appear in public on January 29 to address the first national convention of the newly formed United People Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in Colombo, party sources said.


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Bhikku Front demands anti-Buddhist NGOs banned

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2004, 15:46 GMT]
The National Bhikku Front (NBF) Thursday afternoon held a demonstration to protest against the functioning of several non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which the NBF claimed as endangering the Buddhist religion and sovereignty of Sri Lanka. In a memorandum submitted to Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge, the NBF urged her to take immediate steps to ban such organizations to safeguard Buddhism, sources said.


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SLFP, JVP branches to celebrate MoU signing

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 January 2004, 13:57 GMT]
Elaborate arrangements are being made in several parts of the country by the branches of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna to celebrate the event of signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the two political parties with religious observances and public meetings, political sources said.


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Anura Bandaranaike tipped to become SLFP-JVP alliance leader

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 January 2004, 14:40 GMT]
The prospective leader of the new political alliance to be formed between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party Mr.Anura Bandaranaike said Sunday that "the formation of the new political group would be the beginning of the country's long political journey towards solving Sri Lanka's problems and for ensuring peace and justice for all."


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