04-05-2004, 09:26 AM
Sri Lanka result 'bad for peace'
<b>Sri Lanka's chances of making peace with Tamil rebels could suffer because the new government lacks a majority, the outgoing prime minister has warned.</b>
The rebels have said they will resume fighting unless given the right to self-rule in the areas they dominate.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga's coalition won last week's elections, but failed to secure a majority.
She called the vote after a split with Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe over his handling of peace talks.
Mr Wickramasinghe said the new government's likely reliance on coalition partners could stop it from acting decisively.
"It is not a question of what business is transacted, it is the ability to transact it," he said.
<b>Worrying </b>
In the new parliament, President Kumaratunga's United People's Freedom Alliance will be eight seats short of a majority.
The smaller parties that may join it in a coalition may well oppose granting key concessions, such as sweeping autonomy, to the Tamil Tiger rebels, correspondents say.
The BBC's Frances Harrison in Colombo says the rebels have always clung on to the option of a return to war if their demands are not met in the two-year-old peace process.
Last Friday's parliamentary elections have also granted the rebels a certain political muscle after their proxy party won the third-largest number of seats in the new parliament, our correspondent says.
She adds that it is worrying the rebels have raised the threat of fresh fighting even before the shape of the new government has been decided.
நன்றி - www.bbc.co.uk
<b>Sri Lanka's chances of making peace with Tamil rebels could suffer because the new government lacks a majority, the outgoing prime minister has warned.</b>
The rebels have said they will resume fighting unless given the right to self-rule in the areas they dominate.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga's coalition won last week's elections, but failed to secure a majority.
She called the vote after a split with Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe over his handling of peace talks.
Mr Wickramasinghe said the new government's likely reliance on coalition partners could stop it from acting decisively.
"It is not a question of what business is transacted, it is the ability to transact it," he said.
<b>Worrying </b>
In the new parliament, President Kumaratunga's United People's Freedom Alliance will be eight seats short of a majority.
The smaller parties that may join it in a coalition may well oppose granting key concessions, such as sweeping autonomy, to the Tamil Tiger rebels, correspondents say.
The BBC's Frances Harrison in Colombo says the rebels have always clung on to the option of a return to war if their demands are not met in the two-year-old peace process.
Last Friday's parliamentary elections have also granted the rebels a certain political muscle after their proxy party won the third-largest number of seats in the new parliament, our correspondent says.
She adds that it is worrying the rebels have raised the threat of fresh fighting even before the shape of the new government has been decided.
நன்றி - www.bbc.co.uk
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