Arjuna Ranatunge resigns from all posts in SLFP

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 April 2004, 14:07 GMT]
Parliamentarian Mr.Arjuna Ranatunge, former captain of the Sri Lanka cricket team when it won the World Cup in the year 1996, Sunday said he has resigned from all posts in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, main constituent of the United People's Freedom Alliance. He has been holding the post of party organizer for Kotte electorate and the leader of the SLFP youth wing. His decision to quit from these posts came as a protest for not getting the sports ministry portfolio in the new UPFA government, political sources said.
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JVP on warpath with SLFP over ministerial portfolios

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 April 2004, 13:39 GMT]
The General Secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Mr.Tilvin Silva has written to Sri Lanka's President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, to summon the executive committee of the the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), of which the JVP is a major constituent, immediately to sort out all problems that have arisen over the appointment of Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse as Prime Minister and the nonallocation of "vital subjects" for ministries offered to JVP parliamentarians, political sources said.
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Battle lines drawn for election of Sri Lanka's Speaker

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 April 2004, 15:10 GMT]
Battle lines are drawn by the two major political parties, the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the United National Party (UNP), which have failed to obtain absolute majority in the general election on April 2, to show their strength when the thirteenth parliament is scheduled to meet on April 22 to elect the Speaker, political sources said.
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JHU rejects Peace Process, Norway Facilitation

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 April 2004, 13:31 GMT]
"We totally reject the present peace process as we believe it will only lead to the division of this country. We also reject the facilitation of Norway because it is partial towards the LTTE," said Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) Propaganda Secretary Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thera while outlining the basis of his party's position in backing the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government, in an interview that appeared in today's weekly Sunday Times in Colombo.


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JVP boycotts UPFA cabinet swearing in ceremony

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 April 2004, 13:41 GMT]
The first cabinet of the United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government was sworn in Saturday evening in the President’s House with no live coverage by the State electronic media. The leaders and ministers designate of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), major constituent of the UPFA, boycotted the event due to differences of opinion over the allocation of subjects to ministries designated for them, informed political sources in Colombo said.


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Northern Muslims for Norwegian facilitation

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 April 2004, 17:27 GMT]
The United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), which was voted to power at the general elections on April 2, should continue the peace process with the facilitation of the Norwegian government, said the Forum for Northern Muslim Rights (FNMR) in a statement released Friday.
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JHU to support UPFA to form a government

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 April 2004, 16:17 GMT]
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) said Friday that it would support the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) to form a government without depending on other minority parties who call themselves as "kingmakers" in the country's politics. JHU has nine parliamentarians, all Buddhist monks, including two national list members in the new parliament. The current parliamentary strength of the UPFA is 105. The UPFA needs the support of eight parliamentarians to prove its simple majority in the 225 member-new parliament, political sources said.
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32 member UPFA Cabinet to be sworn in on Saturday

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 April 2004, 17:41 GMT]
A thirty-two member cabinet of the United People's Freedom Alliance is likely to be sworn in Saturday, sources in Colombo said. A conference of leaders of constituent parties of the UPFA was held Thursday with President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge in the chair and the allocation of ministries has been finalized, government sources said Thursday.
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JHU opposes SL President's proposed talks with LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 April 2004, 15:58 GMT]
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), which has emerged as the third force in Sri Lanka's southern politics by winning nine parliamentary seats in the last week's general election, Thursday said it would oppose any move to hold direct talks only with the LTTE to come to an agreement to find a political solution to the ethnic crisis.
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Sri Lanka’s PM says executive presidency will be abolished

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 April 2004, 21:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s newly appointed Prime Minister, Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse, said Wednesday that he would work to change the constitution and abolish the executive presidency within four months as promised in his party’s election manifesto, and that he would bring the President under parliament, sources in Colombo said.
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Sri Lanka's PM delays naming cabinet

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 April 2004, 10:17 GMT]
Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse, Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister of the minority government postponed the naming of his new cabinet to either Thursday or Friday, foreign news agencies reported from Colombo. The cabinet was earlier expected to be sworn in on Wednesday.
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‘TNA should speak up for upcountry Tamils’ – UPF

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 April 2004, 19:49 GMT]
The leader of the Upcountry People’s Front (UPF), Mr. Periyannan Chandrasekaran, speaking to the Press after he met with the political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, on Tuesday, said that on behalf of the UPF, he would request the 22 Tamil National Alliance MPs to speak up about the problems of the Upcountry Tamil people, and that he would come to an understanding with the TNA in Sri Lanka's parliament without supporting any Southern parties, sources said.
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JVP to get Land, Fisheries, Culture, Rural Economy Development ministries

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 April 2004, 14:05 GMT]
Thirty-five-member cabinet of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government is to be sworn in on Thursday or Friday. UPFA leaders have decided to limit the number of cabinet ministers to thirty-five, government sources said Tuesday.
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"First priority is to obtain majority in parliament"- PM

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 April 2004, 10:40 GMT]
"My first priority is to secure a majority for my government in the parliament," said Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse soon after he assumed office as Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Tuesday morning. When he met the press after swearing in, he declined to reveal the details of which minority parties he is likely to woo to join the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) to obtain a majority in the parliament.
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Sri Lanka's 14th Prime Minister Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 April 2004, 05:20 GMT]
Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse Tuesday morning was sworn in as the Sri Lanka's fourteenth Prime Minister. President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge administered the oath of secrecy to the new Prime Minister at an event held in the Presidential Secretariat, Presidential secretariat sources said.
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UPFA said divided over selection of new Prime Minister

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 April 2004, 16:08 GMT]
Sri Lanka President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge Monday put off the naming of a new Prime Minister of the thirteenth parliament for Tuesday due to the differences of opinion prevailing among the leaders of constituent parties of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA). The meeting of the UPFA leaders held Monday concluded without coming to a unanimous decision on the Prime Minister nominee, political sources said. Wire reports said later, however, that Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse, the opposition leader in the previous parliament, had been chosen as the new PM.
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Wickremesinghe says minority government danger to peace process

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 April 2004, 10:57 GMT]
The outgoing Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday told a news conference in Colombo that the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) appears to be trying to form a minority government and such a minority government will be a danger to the continuity of the peace process with the LTTE.


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Sri Lanka’s new PM, Cabinet to be appointed Monday

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 April 2004, 17:44 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister of the thirteenth parliament is to be sworn in on Monday. The new cabinet of ministers is also expected to take oaths on the same day. Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge is expected to invite the leader of the political party that has got highest number of seats in the Friday poll, the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), to form the government, Presidential secretariat sources said.


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TNA becomes third largest party in Sri Lanka’s 13th parliament

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 April 2004, 15:17 GMT]
The United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Sunday evening emerged as the single largest party in the Sri Lanka’s thirteenth 225-member parliament with 105 seats and United National Party (UNP) with 82 seats. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which won four electoral districts, Jaffna, Vanni, Trincomalee and Batticaloa in the northeast province except Amparai became the third largest party in the new parliament with twenty two seats.
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Trinco GA, Police commended for violence free elections

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 April 2004, 02:35 GMT]
The Trincomalee District Returning Officer Mr. Gamini Rodrigo Saturday evening declared at the Trincomalee district secretariat that Messrs R.Sampanthan and K.Thurairetnasingham of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Najeeb Mohamed Abdul Majeed of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and N.W.M.Jayantha Wijesekara of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) have been elected parliamentarians for the Trincomalee Electoral District No: 14.
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