04-21-2004, 05:19 PM
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<span style='color:red'>Cabinet struggle for Kumaratunga
Kumaratunga's allies are unhappy with their cabinet posts.
Sri Lanka's president is battling to shore up her new coalition government ahead of a key parliamentary vote scheduled for Thursday.
Chandrika Kumaratunga is struggling to resolve power-sharing issues with her junior coalition partner, the People's Liberation Front (JVP).
Parliament meets on Thursday to decide the key position of speaker.
Mrs Kumaratunga's coalition won 105 of the 225 parliamentary seats in the general election on 2 April.
The JVP, former leftist revolutionaries, holds 39 of the alliance's seats and is insisting on more power than Mrs Kumaratunga has offered.
Boycott
The president had expected the JVP to accept four cabinet portfolios but is reluctant to include the key post of river basin development.
We have still not reached an agreement. But efforts are being made to resolve the matter soon
Wimal Weerawansa, JVP
The JVP wants the post to gain influence over the farmer vote in central Sri Lanka.
"We expected the issue to be resolved by Monday, but so far the negotiations remain deadlocked," a source close to the president told the AFP news agency.
"But the president is still very hopeful that it can be resolved."
The JVP says Mrs Kumaratunga promised it river basin development but reneged on the pledge.
It then boycotted a ceremony on 10 April inaugurating the new cabinet and has not taken up its four ministries.
The crisis comes ahead of Thursday's crucial vote for parliamentary speaker.
Mrs Kumaratunga's favoured candidate is Dew Gunesekera but the main opposition United National Party is expected to field its own candidate.
With the president's alliance eight seats short of a majority it will need support from minority factions such as the Tamils or Buddhists.
The Buddhists are now threatening to abstain, increasing the chances an opposition speaker will be elected.
The BBC's Frances Harrison in Colombo says that would mean Mrs Kumaratunga's rivals would control the agenda of business in parliament, delaying legislation and other political reforms she has promised.
She says it would not bode well for the stability of the new government if it could not elect its own speaker. </span>
bbc.com
<span style='color:red'>Cabinet struggle for Kumaratunga
Kumaratunga's allies are unhappy with their cabinet posts.
Sri Lanka's president is battling to shore up her new coalition government ahead of a key parliamentary vote scheduled for Thursday.
Chandrika Kumaratunga is struggling to resolve power-sharing issues with her junior coalition partner, the People's Liberation Front (JVP).
Parliament meets on Thursday to decide the key position of speaker.
Mrs Kumaratunga's coalition won 105 of the 225 parliamentary seats in the general election on 2 April.
The JVP, former leftist revolutionaries, holds 39 of the alliance's seats and is insisting on more power than Mrs Kumaratunga has offered.
Boycott
The president had expected the JVP to accept four cabinet portfolios but is reluctant to include the key post of river basin development.
We have still not reached an agreement. But efforts are being made to resolve the matter soon
Wimal Weerawansa, JVP
The JVP wants the post to gain influence over the farmer vote in central Sri Lanka.
"We expected the issue to be resolved by Monday, but so far the negotiations remain deadlocked," a source close to the president told the AFP news agency.
"But the president is still very hopeful that it can be resolved."
The JVP says Mrs Kumaratunga promised it river basin development but reneged on the pledge.
It then boycotted a ceremony on 10 April inaugurating the new cabinet and has not taken up its four ministries.
The crisis comes ahead of Thursday's crucial vote for parliamentary speaker.
Mrs Kumaratunga's favoured candidate is Dew Gunesekera but the main opposition United National Party is expected to field its own candidate.
With the president's alliance eight seats short of a majority it will need support from minority factions such as the Tamils or Buddhists.
The Buddhists are now threatening to abstain, increasing the chances an opposition speaker will be elected.
The BBC's Frances Harrison in Colombo says that would mean Mrs Kumaratunga's rivals would control the agenda of business in parliament, delaying legislation and other political reforms she has promised.
She says it would not bode well for the stability of the new government if it could not elect its own speaker. </span>
bbc.com
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