04-12-2004, 11:58 PM
<span style='color:red'><b>Rift widens in Chandrika coalition</b>
Apr 12, 2004, 19:01 [Gulf News]
President Chandrika Kumaratunga's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) coalition has run into trouble with serious differences of power-sharing between two of the main partners as they battled to seek support of smaller parties to establish a coalition government.
Kumaratunga's original party the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the second largest constituent partner of the UPFA, showed their differences in public on Saturday when the Marxists boycotted the swearing-in of the cabinet of ministers.
The boycott came four days after the two sides strongly differed on the selection of the new prime minister. The JVP backed the former foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar against Mahinda Rajapakse who was appointed as the prime minister.
The differences between the two sides have now turned into a battle between the SLFP and the JVP with the SLFP now trying to take preventive action to protect its own party.
On Saturday Kumaratunga was forced to swear in only 31 of the 35 member proposed cabinet due to the boycott. This prompted the government to call off the planned live coverage of the event.
Kumaratunga decided to ignore the JVP's boycott and went ahead with her plans the same way she ignored the JVP in choosing her new prime minister. </span>
Apr 12, 2004, 19:01 [Gulf News]
President Chandrika Kumaratunga's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) coalition has run into trouble with serious differences of power-sharing between two of the main partners as they battled to seek support of smaller parties to establish a coalition government.
Kumaratunga's original party the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the second largest constituent partner of the UPFA, showed their differences in public on Saturday when the Marxists boycotted the swearing-in of the cabinet of ministers.
The boycott came four days after the two sides strongly differed on the selection of the new prime minister. The JVP backed the former foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar against Mahinda Rajapakse who was appointed as the prime minister.
The differences between the two sides have now turned into a battle between the SLFP and the JVP with the SLFP now trying to take preventive action to protect its own party.
On Saturday Kumaratunga was forced to swear in only 31 of the 35 member proposed cabinet due to the boycott. This prompted the government to call off the planned live coverage of the event.
Kumaratunga decided to ignore the JVP's boycott and went ahead with her plans the same way she ignored the JVP in choosing her new prime minister. </span>
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