UNP submits no-confidence motion

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, JUNE 22. Sri Lanka's main Opposition United National Party (UNP), along with three Tamil parties, today submitted to Parliament a no- confidence motion against the Chandrika Kumaratunga Government, which was earlier this week reduced to a minority after a key ally walked out of the People'a Alliance (PA) coalition.

The motion was signed by 97 MPs. All 88 members of the UNP were signatories to the motion, while its new-found Tamil friends made up the rest: the TULF's five members, the TELO's three and the lone member of the All-Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC).

The one-line motion stated that it was ``demonstrably clear that the present Government could not solve the pressing problems of the country and the people''.

The earliest that the motion is expected to come up before Parliament is the third week of July, that is, if it is not overtaken by other developments.

In this regard, significance is being attached to a meeting between the UNP leader, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, and the Sri Lankan President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, at her invitation.

There was widespread speculation that Ms. Kumaratunga had called the talks with Mr. Wickremesinghe to propose the formation of a national government to tide over the crisis for the PA Government, in minority after Wednesday's walk-out by seven MPs of the SLMC.

A cryptic statement issued by the presidential secretariat after the meeting said the Government and the UNP ``will engage in a constructive dialogue to carry the peace process forward''.

It is believed the UNP might not be averse to the idea of a national government because it too does not have the simple majority required to push the no-confidence motion through the 225-member Parliament.

The SLMC appears undecided about supporting the motion, and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), an Opposition party that has 10 members, has said it will make a decision on Saturday.

Despite speculation about the Chandrika-Ranil meeting, the UNP leadership said today it was confident it would get backing for the motion from the JVP, the SLMC as well as the Sihala Urumaya, which has one member.

``We are quite hopeful that those who love this country, who would like to see democratic norms established in this country, will give their blessings for this no-confidence motion,'' said the UNP deputy leader, Mr. Karu Jayasuriya, at a joint news conference with its new allies, the TULF and the ACTC.

The UNP claimed some members of the ruling PA's coalition, including those who were formerly its members but had crossed over to the Government benches last year, would also back the motion.

A senior UNP leader, Mr. W.J.M. Lokubandara, said once the no- confidence motion went through, all those who had supported it would be invited to join in a new government.

Such a government would only be a ``short-term measure'' to set up independent commissions for elections, the police, the media and the judiciary, so that the next parliamentary elections could be held in a ``democratic'' atmosphere, Mr. Jayasuriya added.

Giving reasons for supporting the UNP's move to oust the PA Government, the vice-president of the TULF, Mr. V. Anandasangaree, said they had lost hope that Ms. Kumaratunga could solve the ethnic conflict.

``We do not believe the President is serious about solving the problem. Mr. (Erik) Solheim (the Norwegian facilitator), who was shuttling between Colombo, Delhi and London, to arrange peace talks, has also been chased out,'' he said.

The TULF had received ``verbal assurances'' from the UNP that it would take ``satisfactory'' steps towards starting talks with the LTTE and ending the war in the north, he said.

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Section  : International
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